Spinda Cafe

[NebulaDreams]

"Ah, we're just yankin' your tail," Curio said, chuckling. She dug into another meat skewer. "I guess I haven't really kissed a gal either. Not that I mind that or anythin', I'm just not really much of a romantic gal."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Oh my god Brisa was dying, this was amazing. Starr struggled to regain control of her breathing and lightly smacked Brisa's shoulder with a paw. "You can chill out, it's just a joke. You're gonna set something on fire if you blush any harder," she added with a snort.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa wrenched her paws from her burning face and tried to put on a grin over her intense embarrassment.

"Yeah, more like, you would set somethin' on fire, 'cause, you're a fire type!"

Oh gods, I think I'm a certifiable half-wit.

She laughed nervously, and called over to Spinda: "Bartender! Get me some spirits. Brandy, if you have it!"

She was going to need some drink to not combust from this.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Yeah, more like, you would set somethin' on fire, 'cause, you're a fire type!"

Brisa was so bad at this, it was amazing.

Starr put a paw to her chest with an overdramatic sigh. "I'm wounded."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

Wait, Starr was probably joking. Fuck.

"Wait, I mean- fuck. Sorry. Fuck!"

She hid behind her paws again and tried to not exist anymore.

RIP Brisa Escarpa, 1999-2020

 

[NebulaDreams]

“Wow, Brisa, you could probably cook an egg on your head since you look so red,” Curio said. “And Starr, you’re gonna embarrass her to death one day.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I'm fine!" Brisa lied.

"I'm not a romantic either," she lied, again. "That's why I'm so... surprised!"

Spinda dropped off a bottle of brandy and a glass of ice, having come to understand Brisa's habits in recent days. She gladly poured herself a drink and got started.

Ah.

So much better.

"What about you, Starr?" she said, almost aggressively. "You a kissin' kinda gal?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr thought about replying “Why, you interested?” except she was pretty sure Brisa would burst into flames on the spot. And while it was a hilarious mental image, she wasn’t that cruel.

“You sound like you’re 14 right now, you know that?” she said, guzzling some more of her coffee. It was finally starting to take effect. “Maybe, maybe not, who’s to say? Figure I oughta keep some aspects of my human life a secret.” So she was the only one at the table with any experience at all. That was amusing.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Yanno what, it's kind of hard to kiss with this schnozz of mine in the way." She gestured to her big nose. "Like, why didn't they give me the jaw to go with it?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I've got a score of years, I'm probably older than you!" protested Brisa, going for her drink again and trying not to think of the logistical solution to Curio's kissing conundrum.

Then she blushed harder at the realisation that Starr probably had kissed someone by now and that she had, effectively, just admitted to her hopelessness at... well. Things.

Well done, Brisa, you sure showed her! You're older than her and you still ain't so much as bumped noses with a pretty gal! Please please please just stop talking!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr snorted. “Sure doesn’t feel like you’re older than me. But hey, who the hell knows how to compare human and Pokemon ages, and not even from the same world too.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well, I've been livin' on my own away from folks for four years, I ain't had much opportunity to... to get, ah. Loved experience. Lived experience, I mean. Goddamnit."

More brandy.

"I've arrested every stripe of bandit, I hunt all my own meals, and I can hold my liquor. I'm a fuckin' adult, by the wind, and whether I've ever kissed a gal ain't got nothin' to do with it!"

Yes. This was going perfectly, and she didn't want to die even a little bit. Wonderful.

 

[NebulaDreams]

Curio snickered at this back and forth. She couldn't think of much else to add since it was perfect on its own.

“Sure doesn’t feel like you’re older than me. But hey, who the hell knows how to compare human and Pokemon ages, and not even from the same world too.”

"I guess I've lived for 12 years, give or take a year. But I feel like one of those twenty-somethings, if that makes sense."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr chuckled at Brisa’s tryhard reply. “Alright, alright, just giving ya crap.”

"I guess I've lived for 12 years, give or take a year. But I feel like one of those twenty-somethings, if that makes sense."

Starr shrugged. “Makes sense. You’d know better than the rest of us, being a Pokemon living around humans and all.” She’d pretty much been assuming Curio was around her age anyway, if a bit older apparently.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded and tried to tame her ears and tail out of their fluster.

"I'm... not... I don't know how this works," she said.

Was it a friend thing? Did friends do this with each other? Starr was laughing, and in a good way. Curio was unphased, sporting a cheerful grin. Was this... okay?

"I guess I could stand to get used it," she grumbled from behind her glass.

And she wasn't lying.

Brisa didn't need the rest of the bottle in the end. Starr and Curio had had their fun, and settled into easier conversation, which Brisa did her best to join in with. Spinda offered up a small selection of desserts, and while Brisa was overwhelmed by so much sweetness in a single dish, the dread of the Reverse World cave was soon, if not forgotten, then dulled appreciably.

Brisa looked at her two companions, bantering amicably with each other, and allowed herself a genuine smile in the moment before either of them could look back at her and see it.

Maybe things would be alright after all.

<><><><><><>

 

[Negrek]

There was exactly one good thing about this shitty world, and that was that they actually had alcohol here. Okay, the fact that somebody else was picking up the tab was pretty non-shitty as well, but Nate really wasn't in the mood to be generous. One way or another, there was actually fucking booze for when you needed it, and God did he need a fucking drink right about now. Or maybe a dozen fucking drinks.

Rocky was on the bar next to him, quivering and rattling and drawing the eye of the spinda barkeeper. Nate scowled at the spinda's sidelong, and not very fucking subtle glance. Fucker seemed to think it was a bit weird for Nate to have a shaking stone with him, and even weirder that he'd put out a dish of berries for it, but fuck him. Nate wished there was somewhere else within staggering distance of Maple's portal that served booze that he could take his fucking slug to, but there wasn't, so here they both fucking were. At least the fucker kept the drinks coming.

Nate doubted Rocky was about to pop out and grab any of the berries. Probably for the best, since if Spinda caught sight of him he'd really lose his shit. Nate didn't have to reach over and touch the stone to know that the shade inside was agitated, turning and turning inside the lump, making it dance slowly across the bar. He wished he knew some way to calm Rocky down. Maybe if he poured some booze on the rock, it would soak in, kind of? Would that help, or only scare the shade worse? Nate watched the rock fidget, glum. You couldn't blame the little guy for freaking out. Anybody would be fucking freaked out after--

Okay, one more good thing: Nate got to literally drink like a fish. Because he was a fish. All the fucking time. Ha.

Look at that. The world was just full of fucking beautiful things. What a great day to be alive and winning and all that shit. Nate tossed back the rest of his drink and yelled at the spinda for another.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave entered the café absent-mindedly and was halfway to the bar when he noticed the rock wobbling restlessly on it and the Mudkip sitting beside it, slamming an empty glass on the counter.

Well, he supposed it made sense he needed a drink. Dave shuddered at the memory of the black nightmare ooze he'd dissolved into after being hit by the Shadow beam. Poor fucker.

He'd also been yelling the whole time about being left alone. Yeah, whatever his deal was, Dave was not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

He lifted a paw in curt acknowledgement before sitting down a couple stools away and ordering a beer. The Spinda seemed awkward, or even more so than usual for a Pokémon that constantly stumbled about like it was inches away from passing out. It wasn't hard to see why; the rock kept shuddering wildly, making noise, other patrons throwing brief resentful glances at it, like at a crying baby in a restaurant.

"Your shade okay in there?" he ended up saying. "Does it want out?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate started when someone he recognized sat down at the bar. That damn poochyena again. What the fuck was he doing here?

Oh, good Christ. What had even happened in the, the fight? Had he even, like, attacked the poochyena, or--fuck. Nate just wanted to get the fuck out of there and never have to see one of his "teammates" ever again.

The feeling had changed by the time he'd finished off his drink, though. He was here first. Why the fuck should he have to leave because some asshole might have a problem with him? Nate glared while the poochyena made his order. A problem with something that obviously wasn't Nate's fucking fault in the first place, too. And now this dick had to show up here, couldn't fucking leave well enough alone and let a guy get some fucking peace, looking to start shit. And yeah, now he wanted to fucking talk, and Nate was entirely prepared to tell him where to stick whatever petty shit he wanted to whine--wait, he said what? What the fuck?

"I--I dunno," Nate said. "I think he's too scared to come out, but he doesn't like being in there, either."

Didn't like being around Nate, more like. All that shit about an empathetic bond or whatever the fuck had to suck when your fucking bondee wasn't--Nate tried to take another drink, only to realize the glass was empty. He shakily set it down on the bar and picked Rocky up instead.

The stone kept shaking like mad while Nate held it. The shade must be doing fucking backflips in there or something. What the fuck was he supposed to do? He couldn't just leave the stone somewhere and hope it'd be okay. Even if nobody fucking stole it, if Rocky did decide to come out and wander around, everyone could see him now. What the fuck might happen to him if some of the villagers caught sight of a nightmare slug oozing around?

Nate looked morosely down at the quivering rock for a moment, then gave the poochyena a wary sidelong glance. "Is... Is yours okay?"

 

[Dragonfree]

"Think so?" Dave hadn't technically checked on Squiggly since the fight. He reached into his bag to pull out the rock. "Hey. Everything good?"

The rock wobbled once, but - something wasn't quite right. The stone shivered slightly in his paws, and a strange little twinge of psychic distress jabbed at the back of his brain. Nothing like Nate's, but still there. Dave frowned. "...Huh." He looked back at the Mudkip. "Maybe the fight messed them up."

Goddamn it, he shouldn't have trusted Chip and Karat just because the shades seemed fine going into the rocks. The fucking God Squad strikes again.

 

[Negrek]

Well, fuck. Nate had hoped the poochyena's shade might be in better shape, and maybe they could calm each other down or something. Well, the other shade was in better shape, maybe because it didn't--nothing really bad had happened to it. But it didn't look like it was in any shape to be comforting, either.

"Maybe... Maybe we shouldn't take them into battles, then," he said. "But I thought it would be fine. I mean, whoever heard of a pokémon that don't like to fight?"

What a fucking excuse. Nobody knew the first goddamn thing about these guys. Of course he shouldn't have assumed shit.

Nate squeezed the stone and tried to project comforting thoughts into it. It was over. Everything was gonna be okay.

Rocky was having none of it. The stone twitched almost angrily. And yeah, who the fuck was he trying to kid, anyway?