Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Flyg0n]

Koa pulled away at the touch, annoyed by the gesture, and shot Bahamut a dirty look. Still, his words were a stark reminder of what had happened just before he'd arrived. He forced himself to pause, take a breath before speaking. "You don't have to be a pessimist to be cautious though. You can just be rational. Not everything has to be bad."

A flicker of an uncomfortable memory passed through his mind. His tone lowered slightly, but didn't lose any of its seriousness. "If you start seeing everything as bad, then you'll end up doing something terrible because you believe there's no hope."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut chuffed. "Please. I've already done terrible things. There is no hope for my universe. It died a long time ago. Probably why Dark Matter pulled me into this in the first place. He must've found the sense of despair... comforting and familiar."

He shrugged. "Again, I'm sure Cibus will be fine. I just don't see the point in cozying up to people when I will forget they even existed as soon as this is over. As will you and the rest of our team. I'm content to not do anything until people want me to heal them again."

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa's eyes widened slightly in surprise. So Bahamut's universe was long gone? Not unlike his could have been if the Galactic incident had gone differently...

"Well, I don't see the point in making my stay here miserable." His voice was a little more relaxed now, though he still felt mildly irritated by Bahamut's overly grim outlook. "Just because we'll forget about our time here doesn't mean anyone should make their time here miserable. Besides, if we can get pulled into this fight together, what's to say we might not meet again sometime?"

 

[Ambyssin]

“Dark Matter told me I’m destined to forget everything that happens here.” Bahamut shrugged.

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa let out a disdainful snort. "Do you think that means someone gets to do whatever they want? Is someone allowed to do evil just because they might forget it later?"

He sighed. "Never mind. Maybe you don't get it."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Whatever they want? No." Bahamut's eyes were incapable of rolling. "And 'evil' is so very subjective. Like, I haven't paid for a single thing since arriving on this planet. Is that evil? I'm sure all the shopkeepers would say so."

Granted, someone else was picking up his tab, but that was beside the point.

"I'm just saying that fact makes it awfully hard to get invested in anything interpersonal. Not that it matters. You've already branded me as evil in your mind, I'm sure." He lay down on his back and crossed one leg over the other. "Perhaps you'd be better off channeling that disdain close to Dark Matter. It might help him get back to full strength quicker. You do owe it to him, since you were one of the ones who made him sick."

It wasn't clear from Bahamut's tone if he was being sarcastic.

 

[Flyg0n]

"You don't pay for anything because someone else is," he grumbled. He sighed again, feeling more annoyed than anything. This was too much like conversations back home, too much like people he'd spoken to.

"And I'm not branding you as evil." Just annoying. Infuriating. Maddening.

"If you want to make yourself alone and miserable, I'll leave you to it."

He paused and huffed. "Maybe you should go hang out with Diyem and give him some of your pessimism."

With that, he turned to walk away. Maybe he'd go to colosseum and train some more. Talking to Bahamut left a bitter taste in his mouth.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut sighed and shook his head. "Honestly. Recruiting literal children. What a fool Dark Matter is."

<><><>​

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Another long walk to decompress. Pleasant chill winds, few people about, an opportunity to get that patrolling itch scratched. Brisa had taken to going on as many of these walks and for as long as she pleased, with encouragement from her friends to take time for herself. And hey, it would help keep her body in great condition. Ever since she'd slept off the fight against Red, she felt she could run a thousand miles without tiring.

She actually felt . . . happy.

Anything could happen today, and she'd be ready for it.

 

[Namohysip]

"Um... er, excuse me. Brisa?"

It was a kind voice with the hint of an electrical growl that Brisa would likely feel an immediate kinship toward. Another Luxray--though this one seemed to look more Cibusean than Brisa. Her eyes, though, seemed a lot softer.

"Er, sorry to bother you," she said--Cream. They'd talked a few times before in passing, mostly from the occasional post-battle interview, but perhaps by chance they had run into each other at the park. "Congratulations on your victory, by the way. I heard Puff was the one who got you on the post-battle interview this time?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Howdy, Cream," said Brisa, turning to offer the other luxray a smile. "Honestly, 'Brisket' is jus' fine. I know our names sound weird to y'all."

Wasn't hers translated to like, 'bzap!' or something?

"Anyhow, yer never any bother. An' yeah, Puff likes to nab me after my matches. Peppy fella. Were you hopin' to catch me yerself?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I was!" Cream nodded, "If you have the time, of course. You've all been so busy with... well, saving the world, it's understandable that our interview assignments to seek you all out have been going slower than expected. Though, if we can arrange a time, that would be great."

Cream looked Brisa over, tilting her head. "How has it been, by the way? Evolution, that is. I remember you mentioning that you were only really a Luxio back home."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I got time fer you," said Brisa, chuckling a little to herself. "I'm tryin' t'give myself more time in the day t'do stuff fer myself, so you oughn't t'have so much trouble findin' me now. I'll shoot you a text with some times that work."

How was it to be a luxray? It wasn't just another evolution, it was the penetrating vision, the respect, the being like Ma.

"An' yeah, I ain't got t'bein' a luxray yet back home. Evolvin'... Well, of course I feel stronger, an' it's nice to have a more weight to throw around in a place like Destiny Village, but really that stuff don't matter as much as all the stuff I didn't expect. See, folks look at me different, now. An' then I look at them different, an' I don't just mean 'cause of the vision!"

She tilted her head in thought.

"Plus it got me thinkin' I could probably finally beat my Ma in a tussle. Weird t'think."

 

[Namohysip]

Cream laughed a little at that. "Ahh... Yeah. I felt similarly, really. I was never really one for fighting, so I can't really relate to that sort of... comparison. But even so, I feel that all my time in Destiny Village has left me wondering that, too, in a way. If the tribe back home would ever battle me out of curiosity. Not that they ever asked." She shook her head. "I don't think I ever told you about them in detail, have I?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa grinned briefly. Sierra was all combat. The team thought she spent too much time training? They should see her goddamn mother.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed they were more into battlin' than you, though I guess I was goin' off what my ma's folks are like. What's their deal, then?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, they're nomadic. They travel from place to place as the seasons become favorable, and they've lived that way for generations. There's nothing really wrong with it if that's how they prefer things, but, ahh, well..." She waved her notebook, which she always had on her. "I was too curious for my own good..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Well, how about that?

"Wouldn't y'know it, my ma's folks're nomadic, too. Always been that way. 'Course, I didn't grow up with 'em, I grew up with my pa, who was more like a townie under all his human weirdness, so I got t'be sedentary. An' frankly, 'til I came to Cibus, I was dyin' to explore the world fer twenty goddamn years. Like y'said. Curiosity's a hell of a thing."

Too bad yer duty kept ya bound to that fuckin' town.

 

[Namohysip]

Cream sighed, wistful. "It's strange, really. You lived in a town, I grew up nomadic, and yet we both wanted to explore beyond what we had. How strange!" She laughed again, but this one seemed more subdued and contemplative. "We both wanted to see the part of the world where we hadn't been raised. That's funny."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Makes perfect sense t'me," replied Brisa. "It ain't about whether a town or th'wanderin' life are better to grow up in. It's about wantin' t'see somethin' new an' bein' kept from it."

She smiled at Cream. She was so gentle. When Brisa had first met her a while back, she'd tensed right up, expecting the luxray reporter to behave like Sierra, or Luna, or Salvador, or Vega. Instead, she'd been all but the opposite of everything Brisa was used to from her own kind.

"I'm really glad you got t'see the world, Cream."

 

[Namohysip]

She smiled genuinely at that one, like it was a relief, and she added, "My old tribe told me the same thing... but I feel like you can relate to it a little more. For them, I think they were only being... polite." She put a paw over her mouth. "I try to tell them stories about here, but I think it goes right over their heads. It's all so strange to them."