Poppin' Arms ~ Cafeteria

[Adamhuarts]

"To start off, tell me everything I need to know that might be helpful," Cynthian said, matter of factly.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Skara nodded, giving the mountain of books a brief glance. Not the work she'd expected to be doing over lunch, but important nonetheless. She nudged Araun with a telepathic request to make sure the books were shifted further away from the food, and then turned to Cynthian. "Well then. Where to begin..."

There was a lot to cover—a lot more, with Araun constantly interjecting to add what he thought he knew about Sword's situation—but, hard work or not, it was at least nice to be going over it all with a friendly face.

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[Virgil134]

The day following the team's victory over Red, Cabot and Pleo found themselves at the guild's cafeteria where they sat down at one of the tables. Both their plates had a sizable amount of curry on them as Pleo looked at their food eagerly, before giving Cabot a curious look.

"So this curry is just like the one in Treasure Town?"

"Well, I don't know about it being exactly the same, but it looks and smells similar at least," Cabot replied. "Though there's only one way to find out if it also tastes similar..."

 

[Namohysip]

Heavy pitter-patter, some from hard talons and others from pawpads, shook the ground next to them as Potluck walked next to them. Over his shoulder was a large bag that seemed to contain a huge object of some kind, though this was a routine for Potluck now and then. Nobody really asked why. He was odd anyway.

He talked to the chefs and got some food for himself before spinning around, only then spotting Cabot and Pleo--his eyes lit up.

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo's eyes similarly lit up when he noticed Potluck, prompting him to greet the Silvally with a cheery wave.

"Oh! Hey there, Potluck!"

Cabot looked over, only for his eyes to fall on the large bag that Potluck was carrying, making him tilt his head curiously.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hi!" Potluck said, his eyes gleaming a happy, energetic yellow as he found a seat across from Pleo. "I'm having lunch! How about you? Curry?" He tilted his head. "I like the curry over in Treasure Town more, but at least with over here it's with everyone else all the time."

 

[Virgil134]

"Uh-huh!" Pleo nodded. "We wanted to see if it was just as yummy as the curry in Treasure Town!"

Cabot took a bite to test it, pausing a moment as he smacked his mouth a little. "Hm... I think you're onto something about the curry in Treasure Town being better... Still! This is pretty good!"

The Rampardos ate a bit more as Pleo happily started to dig in as well, before Cabot looked back at Potluck and spoke up.

"By the way, Pleo told me you guys played together a few times while I was in the Void Lands. I appreciate you looking out for him like that."

 

[Namohysip]

"Aww, it was nothing." As Potluck sat, his tail swished behind him, kicking up a small whirlwind that a few Pokemon walked around to avoid. "I had a lot of fun! Pleo's really nice. He must have come from really good memories."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot blinked, and he and Pleo looked at each other for a moment, before the Rampardos turned back to Potluck with a sheepish smile. Most 'mons probably wouldn't consider his time where he and the rest of the navy hunted down and captured Pleo 'good memories', but there had been some happy moments in between. Like when he read Pleo a bedtime story at the palace in Tidemill and the Lugia first opened up to him. Or when he convinced Nagant to let Pleo go and the two parted ways with a warm hug. Things were good when he last left his world, so... surely that was good enough, right?

"Er... something like that, yeah," Cabot said, trying to think of a way to change the subject when he noticed Potluck’s bag again. "So what are you carrying in that large bag anyway?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Er, um." The crest on his head seemed to fan down slightly and he looked away. "It's... just something I need to carry around for a little while, just in case, that's all .I, um, I-I've gotten stressed more easily lately, so... Just in case I get too stressed, I just have to put it on. That's all." He smiled, but that excited light was gone from his cheek bolts.

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo tilted his head, wondering what Potluck could have to help him with stress that was this big, when his eyes suddenly lit up in realization.

"Oh! Is it a giant plushie?" Pleo asked excitedly. "Can I see it?"

"Eh... I don't think that's something you'd 'put on', Pleo," Cabot said as he scratched his cheek.

 

[Namohysip]

Potluck winced a little at that, but sighed and plucked open the bag by one of the straps and pulled out the singular object that took up most of its space. It looked like some kind of heavy, stone, mechanized helmet that looked just a little too small for Potluck's head and crest. If Potluck put it on, perhaps only his eyes would gleam from within the slit that was left for vision. A strange trigger and contraption was attached to the left side that looked more like a lever to lock it in place.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot and Pleo both looked in surprise as Potluck pulled the helmet out of his bag, and examined it carefully.

"It looks kinda scary..." Pleo murmured.

"Eh... don't take this the wrong way, but wouldn't this give you more stress?" Cabot asked. "Cramming your head into that can't be comfortable..."

 

[Namohysip]

"It's not, but it calms me down, um, forcefully. I need it, if... things get bad." Potluck looked down. "It's from how I was created. It didn't go right. So, um... that's used to keep me calm. But I rarely need it!" His fishtail tried to wag. "...But... all this spy stuff, you know..."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot fell silent and shifted uncomfortably. He'd heard Potluck had been artificially created, so was this strange helmet meant to control him somehow? He could only imagine how awful it had to be to have to resort to that, so it was no surprise the Silvally seemed so cagey about it.

"I'm sorry to hear that..." the Rampardos murmured. "I guess not knowing who the spies are must be even more stressful for you guys than it is for us."

"... Do you think it might be one of your friends?" Pleo hesitantly asked.

 

[Namohysip]

Potluck's talons scraped against the table, leaving visible etchings. "N-no," he said. "It can't be. They're all too nice to be like that. They wouldn't... betray us. We've worked together for so long!" The table cracked near his front legs.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot winced slightly at Potluck's reaction. The last thing he wanted was to stress out Potluck even more with how friendly the Silvally had been to Pleo, yet it also didn't feel right to just outright dismiss the idea of someone on the God Squad being a spy. While the spies could easily just be members of the guild, with there supposedly being three spies total that was a dangerous assumption to make. That said... maybe there was a different way to break things to Potluck.

"Well, I don't think any of them are a spy... or at least not intentionally," the Rampardos said. "Like you said, they've worked together with you for so long in different worlds, so it wouldn't make sense for one of them to just turn on everyone like that. At the same time, what if one of your friends is forced to be the spy against his or her will? I mean, we've seen so many things in Cibus that could cause that, like Blacklight corruption, Eternatus... apparently Psychic-Types can even do some weird stuff in this world as well. Or what if it's something more mundane like Giovanni blackmailing one of them?"

He shook his head. "If you weren't in control of your own actions, wouldn't you want your friends to try and help you out? Even if it might be stressful?"

 

[Namohysip]

He continued to scrape at the table, looking more and more uncomfortable at the prospect of his teammates becoming forced into some kind of servitude toward Giovanni--for any reason. Was that really how it was going to go? Was that... why the team had been going through so much trouble?

"I don't know..." Potluck looked down. "I just don't know... There's... I just have to trust them. I can't... go against that..."

 

[Virgil134]

"But... what if one of them needs you?" Pleo asked. "If that's the really case, shouldn't you try to help your friend instead of looking away?"

Cabot put a finger to his mouth and thought for a moment. "How about this... what if while we eat lunch we just talk a bit about the rest of the God Squad? That wouldn't really count as going against them, and maybe we can even think of some arguments why they're not a spy in case someone else accuses them later. After that... how about we do something fun together? Pleo and I didn't have any plans today anyway, and then you won't have to worry about those spies for a while. Besides, playing seems like a better way to relax than wearing that helmet, doesn't it?"

 

[Namohysip]

Potluck had been getting more and more agitated, but Cabot's proposal ended up being a good distraction. "O-okay. I'll do what I can, I guess... wh--who do you want to hear about first? Um... I'll start with Maple. She's really nice, and she's the one who's been here the longest, except for me. She can get scary when she's mad but she really means well, a-and I've never seen her make the wrong decision in the end! So she can't be the spy. Especially because we have Joule back nor and stuff. A-and no way Joule is the spy, either! You can tell when he's lying because he gets dim and stuff, kinda like Owen..."