Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Negrek]

"I don't think so," Rocky said. "People like it because you can go real fast and do tricks!" The familiar pushed away from the railing and began slowly skating again, to show what he meant, Nate supposed.

"Uh, well, I don't think most people take that serious," he said. The skarmory sure was fucking intense all of a sudden. "Some people get pretty big into it, but I don't think it's, like, a religious thing. Maybe some people'd call it a tradition, I guess."

"If you get really good at it, you can jump and spin and stuff!" Rocky said. He jumped, a little, off the ice, and then fell down.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"I see. So it's just one of those things," Seyka said thoughtfully, "Traditions can just be like that. I mean, that doesn't mean you could base a religion around skating. Anyone can make a religion about anything." The Skarmory had a strange expression for a moment, but smiled again.

"Well, if I figured out how to fly again, then this can't be that hard." Saying this, Seyka walked to the ice and hopped on it, chirping in surprise as he began to slowly slide across. The Skarmory remained stock still as he slid on his talons, only turning his head when he stopped in the middle of the ice.

"That was pretty intense. What do I do next?" he asked.

 

[Negrek]

Rocky laughed and clapped as Seyka went sliding past. "Yeah, you got it!" A few other skaters had to swerve to avoid hitting him, but people didn't seem too miffed. There were a lot of other shaky skaters at the rink--it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Now you want to try sliding with one foot... And then the other..." Rocky said, giving a shaky demonstration. "That's how you go faster!" The familiar continued to move across the ice in fits and starts, legs working jerkily. Nate leaned up against the edge of the rink, watching.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

The Skarmory nodded in understanding, turning and setting off across the ice for the second time. As he glided, he lifted one foot into the air and held it there for several seconds before lowering it and repeating the process with the other leg.

"This is a bit confusing," Seyka said, "Pokemon can find such complex ways to have fun."

He glanced over to Nate. "Not interested, are you?" he called.

 

[Negrek]

Rocky giggled. "I guess! It's harder than sledding, for sure." He wobbled over in Seyka's direction and had to stop hard, arms flailing, so he didn't crash into the skarmory. "You're doing really good. Can you switch your feet faster?"

"You two have fun," Nate grunted. "I'm good."

"He doesn't believe in fun," Rocky said. The familiar's movements were still wobbly, but at least he hadn't fallen down for a bit now.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"What's fun and what's not fun is really not fun to decide," Seyka said, his feet moving faster as per Rocky's instructions. "I think Nate's fun is just different. Maybe it's something we can't see, you know?"

The Skarmory nodded. "I bet if you let Nate have his own ice, he'd skate. He just wants to have fun on his own time."

"You don't want to have fun, Nate, right?" Seyka yelled, waving a wing at the Mudkip. "You just want to understand fun."

 

[Negrek]

"Well, maybe," Rocky said reluctantly. "But it sucks that his idea of fun has to be so boring."

His own ice, huh? Well, if he was going to slide around and fall on his face, Nate didn't want to do it in front of a bunch of assholes, that was for sure. "I dunno about understanding shit," he said. "But I know what I like, and this ain't it."

"How do you know if you like it if you don't even try it?" Rocky said. He almost skated into a blaziken in his distraction.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka hummed. "Some things aren't meant to be tried." He slid across the ice again, looking distant. "Life is about making choices after all. If it's his choice to make, it's his to regret if he wants." The Skarmory stuck his tongue out. "But Nate might be missing out too, we'll never know."

"If you're formed from his memories though, wouldn't you at least understand why he finds things fun?" Seyka asked Rocky. "Or maybe you're only a little chunk of memory, like a time Nate thought something else was fun. Huh, it would be a hassle if your shade was a reflection of something that didn't exist anymore." The Skarmory frowned. "Oh, but saying that is bad luck. Let's pretend we never wondered."

 

[Negrek]

Rocky laughed when Seyka stuck his tongue out. "Yeah, he's totally missing out!"

The skarmory's next question made him a bit more pensive, though. "Well, it's a bit weird, and I think it works different for different familiars. We're all weird! But I don't know everything Mudkip's ever thought about. Only the memories he has of Infernape. So I know some things about him, but not everything." Rocky looked like he was a little better at skating when he wasn't thinking about it, actually. "What about you? What do you like to do for fun?"

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"Me?" Seyka was silent for a moment. "I- don't get out often, so my fun is nothing special. Just, you know, looking at the clouds and stuff."

The Skarmory looked away. "I suppose it's just because I have to pretend to be proper, so to speak. Don't tell anyone I said that though! My brother would get upset with me." Seyka grinned.

 

[Negrek]

"Clouds are fun!" Rocky smiled widely. "Especially if you know how to change the weather! Then you can make them look like whatever you want. And you don't have to pretend anything here. Nobody from your world is here to care about it, and they're never gonna find out, either! You should do all the things you never get to do at home."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"The weather? The weather." Seyka skated slowly.

"If I could change the weather, then I'd want every day to be rainy so the whole sky would be a big cloud that never stopped. Ah, but that would be a bit annoying no? Everyone else would want some sun, so umm- maybe I'd make every other day rainy."

The Skarmory nodded. "See? Not only is everyone happy, but now you always know when it's going to rain. You'll never have to worry about picking a bad day to have a picnic."

"But..." Seyka trailed off. "Would it really be okay to do whatever I want? Are you sure no one is watching? I have a reputation to keep up at home- or at least, that's what Inno says."

 

[Negrek]

"I guess making every other day sunny would be fair," Rocky said after a moment. "As long as it snows sometimes, too!"

The familiar was getting a little more confident about skating and managed to move out ahead of Seyka, wobbling and grinning as he looked back over his shoulder. "And nobody's watching! You're in a whole different universe, so unless they joined the team like you, there's no way they could be here. So you should have all the fun you want. Now... come on! Bet you can't catch me!"

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"I wouldn't bet that I could," Seyka said, following the Infernape. "You have an advantage. You're ice skate shaped, like, made for skating. I'm made for sitting, and hopefully flying."

"That said," the Skarmory added quietly, "I am having fun. If you think it'll be fine, Rocky, then I believe you!"

 

[Negrek]

"It'll be fine! And I know I'm totally right," Rocky said, laughing. "But come on, you at least gotta try! Try to go fast!"

"All right, all right, leave the guy alone," Nate said from his spot by the edge of the rink. "You've had your fun. Don't be a dick about it." Rocky stuck out his tongue at the mudkip.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"No, no, it's not a problem," Seyka said, looking at Nate. "I don't mind at all."

Seyka prepared himself, bending his legs slightly before he took off across the ice again. As he sped up, he started holding his wings slightly out to either side of him to keep his balance. Though he skated well for a bit, he lost his balance and fell, sliding the rest of the way on his side.

"It's winter. I'm having fun," he said, mostly to himself. The Skarmory smiled a little, but faltered after a moment. "Oh, I'm kind of cold."

 

[Negrek]

"Yeah! Yeah, you're doing great!" Rocky said as Seyka picked up speed. Turning back to cheer the skarmory on proved to be a mistake, though; since the familiar wasn't watching where he was going, it was easy for him to skate into a golem's broad backside. With a startled yelp, Rocky toppled to the ice. It wasn't much of a race, and both contestants ended up on the ground, but Seyka had at least managed to go a bit farther.

Nate pressed himself up against the barricade, bracing himself for psychic backlash, but mercifully his familiar slid to a halt before that could happen, howling with laughter. "Get back here," he hissed. "Enough fucking skating already. You've had more than enough time."

Rocky was back on his feet in an instant, still laughing while he wobbled back towards Nate. Asshole. "You're really good already," the familiar said, leaning against the railing while Nate glared at him. "I bet if you kept practicing, you could be a pro skater! A pro skater skarmory! Wouldn't that be cool?"

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"Mmmm, I can imagine that," Seyka said. "I don't think I'd be very fun to watch though. Even I wouldn't come to watch me, mostly because I wouldn't have the time for it."

"I would watch you though," the Skarmory said, sliding up to the rail Rocky was leaning against. "You could enter contests and win money for Nate. I think he'd like it better if there was something in it for him."

"Er, I don't mean to imply," Seyka hurriedly added, looking at the Mudkip nearby. "But most pokemon like money, or at least whatever you can get with it."

 

[Negrek]

"I would watch you, too!" Rocky said brightly. "It wouldn't be boring at all. Today wasn't boring!" He beamed. "And I could! I'd win all the money. You're right, Mudkip would like that."

"Yeah, you got me," Nate said, smirking. "I ain't gonna say no to cash. Though I guess it don't really matter around here, with the God Squad taking care of the bills." He shifted his gaze back to Rocky and frowned. The familiar was looking longingly out into the rink. "Anyhow, thanks for keeping the, the... rock-thing, thanks for keeping it entertained. I think we're gonna get going."

"Awww." Rocky's ears and tail drooped. "But we weren't done!"

"Like I said, you had your time. Now it's my turn, remember? Fucking taking turns? That was your fucking idea?"

Rocky heaved an immense sigh from nonexistant lungs. "Sorry, Seyka. I guess I've got to go. Thanks for skating with me, though! I had a really good time."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"Haa, me too," the Skarmory said. "Thanks for giving me my own rock to hold on to. Next time, I'll have my own friend."

Seyka frowned slightly. "If it picks from our memories though... that's a lot to choose from. Oh well, what happens happens."

"You guys have fun, whatever way that it might happen," Seyka said, waving with one wing. "I think I'll skate a bit more. It's a good way to distract yourself."

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