Poppin' Arms ~ Dorms

[Namohysip]

"...I found key. You will feel strange squeeze."

And just like that, it was like there was a sudden, large hand wrapped around Cuiatl's head, yet it seemed to be within her skull. It didn't hurt, but it was a surreal feeling, and probably something that a Dark Pokemon certainly wouldn't expect.

 

[Persephone]

“Yeah, I...” She didn’t like speaking under the pressure. The psychic could read her thoughts, anyway. Truth be told, she’d felt this before, if rarely. Sometimes she’d push Ren far enough that he’d keep her mind in a cage, shutting down her access to the outside world. {So now we split it?}

 

[Namohysip]

{We split.}

The pressure increased slightly, very slightly, but it still wasn't painful. Breaker was surprisingly--or perhaps not surprisingly, considering she was supposed to be the best in the world--gentle. Something was happening, though, and there was an odd warmth channeling from the back of Cuicatl's head to the base of her neck, like warm water running along her back.

{Think of name.}

 

[Persephone]

“Valentina?” It was a name from some awful romance show that her brother had enjoyed. She had no idea why that of all things was the first thing to come to mind.

 

[Namohysip]

{I hope you do not have regrets.}

And then, Cuicatl would black out. It was a split second of an intense pressure, like a great force had flattened her into the ground, and then there was what felt like a full second of darkness--or whatever equivalent darkness a blind Pokemon would experience--and then everything was back to normal for the both of them.

"...It is done."

"You had trouble, for once" Wheat remarked.

"It is done."

 

[Persephone]

The air is far too thick; it almost hurts to breathe. Loud buzzing and the sound of

Cuicatl stirred. Her mind felt fine. Better than fine. Like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. There was just something straining against her neck -- oh. She wasn't Cuicatl. Valentina, then? She kicked herself for not putting more thought into the name. Something hissed beside her. Ah, right. The other her probably didn't appreciate it.

"Morning, Cuicatl."

She growled in response. "Stupid food question."

"Sorry, I don't..." Maybe you should do this privately. You try to reach into her mindspace only to find it entirely closed off. {You know that... that he let us see almost everything, right? That seems like a good precedent.}

{Look how that arrangement ended up.}

{You know that wasn't--} Food question. Deserve it. Oh. She'd always prided herself on the ability to make masks. Even at her worst, it was important that no one could see it. Or they wouldn't love her. Or something. The reasoning feels so fuzzy now. Of course it does. Valentina was her mask brought to life, and her other self can't hide anymore. Suddenly she feel guilty about the weight off her shoulders. {Talk later.}

"I think it worked," she said aloud. "Just some personal things we need to work through."

Cuicatl snorted.

"One way to put it."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out a breath, flexing her claws from where they'd been digging into the carpet. The process... hadn't really looked like much. And the questions had been real basic, though it seemed like they weren't really the point. Still, Starr knew she didn't trust psychic bullshit, so she wasn't about to let herself relax until it'd finished.

(She also wasn't sure what to feel regarding that last question. Lighter, somehow.)

"Hey, so, looks like it worked, huh?" Starr said, tentatively putting a paw to the dragon's shoulder. "Congrats on the second head, er..." She glanced back and forth between the two. "So which one's you? Or are you both...?" God, Zweilous were weird.

 

[Persephone]

"'m Cuicatl," the first, functional head mumbled.

"And I'm Val! I guess we're meeting for the first time, huh? Sort of. I mean, I remember everything about you that she does... I think?"

Nothing seemed missing? Maybe something obscure like--

She reached for the memories Ren had passed on. She could still find them. All of them? Unsure. It wasn't like the information was all that useful in this world, but she would have hated to lose them. Gods knew how Cuicatl would take that.

 

[Namohysip]

Breaker and Wheat both nodded in unison. "There will be adjustments, as with any Zweilous. Do not attack one another too fiercely."

"And if you wish to seek further counseling, I am a more traditional therapist," Wheat added. "Ask S'more for my details if you wish. Such matters are kept confidential."

Breaker nodded and looked to Cuicatl for a split-second longer than necessary. "Those of Team Spectrum... impressive. You are strong."

 

[Persephone]

Something shifted in Cuicatl's mind. Strength. She liked being praised for that, but it seemed to do less for Val. Hmm. Maybe not as clear-cut a divide as she'd first thought. "Thank you," she said for both of them. "I'll keep the therapy in mind."

She'll ask Cuicatl about it. Cuicatl will say no. Val will mostly drop the subject. Not worth really pissing off someone she was physically attached to. Anyway. Now the fun part started. She got to talk to friends. Cuicatl's friends, at least. Which were maybe hers? Ugh. Brain-splitting was confusing.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Right. Nice meeting you, I guess." So... Val. New person, who already kinda sorta knew Starr, in a weird sort of way. That was gonna take some getting used to.

"Guess you don't need this anymore, huh," Starr said, reaching for the brace holding up the head on the left. She used a claw to unhook the latch, allowing the brace to slip off. Val seemed to have no trouble holding herself up. Cuicarl on the other hand, looked kind of drained from the whole thing.

"...You gonna be okay?" she asked the head on the right.

 

[Persephone]

“Hmph. Yeah. Fine. This isn’t new.” Her voice was as monotone as a zwelious’s could get. For a moment Val thought Cuicatl was going to leave it at that. “Heard your dead sucked. Welcome to the club.”

She paused.

“No, that’s... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be...” Some emotion was gradually creeping into her voice. Val stood by nervously. Reprimanding Cuicatl might make things worse, but her other self wasn’t helping her own case. “What I mean is that I get it, sort of, if you want to talk. I’ll try to be there. Sorry. I’ve... I fucked this up. Sorry. I’ll just... be here. Ignore me. Meet your new friend.”

 

[Chibi Pika]

God damn this girl was depressing. And Starr wasn't too sure that any of her interactions with Cuicatl had ever helped in the slightest. Maybe she was was just making everything worse.

"You didn't fuck anything up, it's fine," Starr said exasperatedly. "Looks like everything worked how it was supposed to, so you should be good to leave. C'mon, let's go--" No, not grab lunch, that was obviously the worst idea. Training? Yeah, after that ordeal, sure. "--check out a match at the stadium? Explore the city? Fuck, whatever you're feeling up to."

 

[Persephone]

So Starr didn’t want to talk about it. That was okay.

“Watch a match? Well, not watch... observe? If you could narrate that would be nice. Cuicatl liked competitive matches back home.” Why did she say Cuicatl there? Instinct? It seemed... true. You could probably strategize if you had to, but you don’t quite see why you’d want to anymore.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Yeah, the announcer's pretty great at hyping everyone up with his commentary, and y'know... I can fill in the gaps if you need." Okay, so at least one suggestion wasn't awful for once. Good. "Need to grab anything before heading out?"

 

[Persephone]

"No... I think I'm good."

Cuicatl just grunted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul walked down the hall of the dorms. They'd learned to form their amorphous body into something resembling an ill-defined quadruped, but was still getting the hang of walking.

They came to one dorm in particular, the one where Celeste's friend was staying. There was another shade in there.

"Hello. My name is Soul. I'm Celeste's shade, have you heard of him? Who are you?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram was gazing outside the window, marveling at the snowflakes dancing in the air like white ballerinas. He exhaled a small breath, as if trying to channel ice energy, but all he got was a hot wave. He frowned, pondering if there was some way to create snowflakes.

Then, his ears swiveled when he heard someone entering the room.

"Hello. My name is Soul. I'm Celeste's shade, have you heard of him? Who are you?"

“Huh?” Petram turned around and stared at that amorphous shade with four stubby arms. He tilted his head curiously, before waving one of his stubby paws. “Yo! Nice to meet you! Name’s Petram, and I’m my Daddy’s son!” He grinned. “And the friends of my Daddy and their shades are my friends, too!”

He hopped off of the desk and hopped toward Soul, wagging his tails. “Celeste, you say? Ah, yeah! That kind Absol who loves to stargaze with Daddy, yes?” He beamed a grin. “Yup! Know him! He’s cool! You’re so lucky to be his shade!”

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul tried to shrug, though it came out as more of a wobble. "He's nice. But I... I just don't know how to be his shade, though. I mean, you make Icetales happy and proud and things, right? That's why I need to talk to you! I need you to teach me how to do that. I want to make Celeste happy and proud and things. Please?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram blinked and scratched his cheek in confusion. “Huuuh… That’s a bizarre request. But sure! I’ll try to help you accomplish that!”

The ghostly Vulpix crossed his paws and thought hard about that, trying to think about what made Icetales proud and happy of him.

“So, um… from personal experience, I… simply am myself? I try to cheer Daddy up when he’s feeling down, or help him organize his notes while he’s workshopping new ideas, or… I’m simply staying there to lend a ear when he needs to vent about something.” He nodded to himself. “Kind gestures can be a good starting point to gain the affection of someone, I think.”

He looked at Soul. “So, what does Celeste like? I know he loves stargazing, but is there something else he appreciates? Perhaps that could give us a few ideas!”