Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Namohysip]

"Nu-uh!" Cal immediately countered. "I found a bar where you can fight between meals. So it's not picking fights, it's entering matches! It's like a mini colosseum! Poffin goes there all the time." She didn't even answer the gardening question; the answer was clear.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Uh-huh."

Bahamut made a mental note to tell Xerneas that Cal shouldn't go anywhere near the tree. Or whatever was left of it.

 

[Namohysip]

Cal puffed her cheeks defiantly, then turned away. "I'll show you. I'm gonna become the best gardener ever! The kind that beats up people who try to misuse it! I'm gonna be a scary garden guardian. A gardenian." She nodded to herself. "Plants can be cool."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I believe that's called a scarekrow," Bahamut mused, vaguely tracing the shape of a honchkrow with one of his claws.

 

[Namohysip]

"Scarecrow?" Cal repeated. "All right, then I'll show you. I'll make that bet, huh? In two years, I'm gonna be an amazing scarecrow! How about that?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Sure. Let's get started." Bahamut laughed into his wing. "Mutt, grab a post and a bunch of wire. We'll tie Cal to the post and plant her in a crop field for two years."

 

[Namohysip]

"Wait, what--you said I'd be a scarecrow, not a doll! And besides, you can't tie me up, or hold me anywhere! Dad tried!"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Scarekrow are literally cursed, enchanted dolls tied to posts," Bahamut explained. "I think they might be stuffed full of evil spirits to chase would-be crop raiders away."

 

[Namohysip]

"But I'm not evil! I stopped doing that ever since I was born!" Cal looked distraught. "What am I even stuffed with? Spiritomb? I lost my core already! I-I'm not letting you grab Leg to do this, either. She already messed with Dad's innards too much!"

 

[Ambyssin]

"So, then, perhaps gardening is not for you." Bahamut's smile was sickeningly sanguine, contrasting with his tone. "Maybe you ought to work in the training facility? They could start you as a custodian or something until you actually have some real weight to throw around."

 

[Namohysip]

"Real weight? How does that even--that's discrimination! I don't have any muscles! I, uh, and it's not like they, I mean, I think there's a Reuniclus in cleaning duty, too, so I totally could do something there!" Cal huffed, crossing her arms, which sank into one another. "Oh yeah, Mr. Smartass, how about you? What's your job gonna be? World's Worst Market Greeter?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Well, you really think after all the mind diving there wouldn't be some demand for my services?" Bahamut retorted. After a pause, he added, "Or I could take up gardening. I have the patience. And the sunlight."

 

[Namohysip]

"Now you're just saying things to mess with me," growled Cal. "...But I guess you'd be a pretty good shrink. Maybe you can ask Breaker for some lessons? I think she does something similar, y'know." Then, under her breath, she said, "Probably the same demeanor, too."

 

[Ambyssin]

"You do realize my head is larger than you and I can hear that, right?" Bahamut mused.

"Sonar ears," Nero sang, his ears twitching.

 

[Namohysip]

"Well maybe I wanted you to hear!" Cal said, sticking out her tongue to the point where it was longer than her neck. After cracking it like a whip, she withdrew it and added, "At least you've got some career options. What're you looking for, life of peace, life of adventure? Soul searching? Must be weird being the one who exists more than the dude you're based on."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I'm pretty sure Buffet already has the soul searching market monopolized," Bahamut deadpanned.

"I see you're already working on your stand-up routine," Nero quipped.

Bahamut flicked an upper wing dismissively. "Hard to do when one floats instead of stands."

"... ba-dum-tsssh."

"Are your teammates back home like this?"

Nero grinned. "One's worse."

Bahamut facepalmed.

 

[Namohysip]

Cal giggled. "Guess that means it's something that happens in a bunch of different worlds," she remarked, then sighed. "Well, anyway... Look, uh..." She rubbed her cheek. "I kinda just came here to see how you were doing and stuff. With only having, y'know, a week left before they go."

 

[Ambyssin]

“I think it’s the others you should worry about,” Bahamut said. Not that he didn’t appreciate the gesture, he supposed. “I’ve had plenty come and go in my life. Or the life I’m reincarnated from.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah..." Cal sighed. "I guess I should go and see how the other Void Eternas are doing. They're probably gonna take it pretty hard. I mean, some of them. It's, like, all our parents just have to go away, you know?" She glanced at Polaris enviously. "You're lucky in that way, huh?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"It's hard to draw any comparisons. I never had parents," Bahamut said. "But I certainly know what it's like to lose a family: painful."