Poppin' Arms ~ Cafeteria

[Namohysip]

Owen's stew had a smell from all the way across the table. He must have squeezed in his own Tamato juice or something, because it had that vague, stinging smell to it that would probably make someone like Dave vacate the room. Probably why he was eating in the cafeteria instead of his room.

"Taking orders from Legends?" Owen echoed, leaning forward a little. "You know, I guess it's not too far off."

"Yeah, Owen's tossed around a bunch of Powers That Be like he's a coin in a seedy bar."

Owen's flame crackled with his alarm. "Wh-what Cal means is, I've sort of been the interest of, you know, a lot of big powers back home. I happen to be a living weapon and all that, crafted to be used to strike down people they need taken down..." Owen blinked. "Kinda like Karat, now that I think about it... A-anyway. I've been... approached by lots of people. Mew, Arceus... In my world, they're at the same level. And kind of at each other's throats. With me in the middle." Owen prodded at a piece of potato. "It's a little awkward."

"And that's not even the half of it," Cal added, her ember eyes swirling around the apple behind her forehead. "There's also the one who crafted Owen's body in the first place, oh, and you know that birthmark on his back--"

"Just--a lot," Owen explained to Starr. "And to be honest, sometimes it feels like they never really ask if I want to work with them, just that I should. I bet your friends got the same thing?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's first thought was why the hell a Charmeleon was so powerful and important that so many people wanted to get their hands on him. But then... the same could probably be said of a certain Pikachu back home.

"Don't know if my world's got an Arceus." She instinctively found herself hoping not. The last thing her world needed was anyone getting their hands on that kind of power. "But, uh... I'm more familiar with Mew than I ever wanted to be," she went on, grimacing. "Sounds like no matter what world you look at, the legends can't just fight their own damn battles and leave regular people out of it." Even if humans had caused all the Legendary bullshit back home...

Her paws balled into fists. "Course, I'm sure if you asked my friends, they'd go on like they chose to work with the legends, and I'm like... just because you chose it doesn't mean you really had a choice." She paused, realizing what she'd just said. "Yeah, wow, that probably sounds really fucking stupid. Never mind."

 

[Namohysip]

"I get it," Owen replied like Starr had stated the weather. "If you set up the circumstances just right and block off the options that would make them turn away, it would seem like the obvious decision to accept the offer, right?" Owen smiled sadly, and to this, even Cal didn't have anything to say.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's ears pricked. "Yeah! Yeah, exactly like--" She froze suddenly as a creeping familiarity settled into her gut.

“You got in over your head and found out too much, didn’t you? You had no choice but to join at that point.”
“That’s not… It was my choice…”

Starr was silent for some time. "It sucks that that happened to you," she said quietly. It wasn't the same. It wasn't. She couldn't just act like there hadn't been any other options, as if that excused the kind of person she'd been.

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper had quietly emerged from behind Owen's shoulders, but with a swish of Owen's tail, the Charizard wraith rolled his eyes and sank back into dormancy.

"Thing is," Owen admitted, "I don't really know if I'd want to change too much, if I could go back. It's kind of weird to think about it this way, but... everything that made up who I am today, here, now, is something I don't want to get rid of. Because, well... I went through that already. It'd go against what I've been fighting for." He stirred at the stew and took a spoonful of carrot and meat this time. "You know when I first came here, and I was missing all of my memories? Well... wouldn't be the first time that happened to me."

Cal finally started properly eating the apple, listening quietly. Bits of apple floated around the inside of her face.

"...I've... been 'reset' a lot of times. I had my memories of the life I lived erased, and then turned back to a point where I wouldn't remember the people I met, or the things I'd done. I'd only know my immediate, adoptive parents, a few of the people who were in on the act, and... that was it. I didn't even remember my old team. Or the friends I'd made who died a long time ago. Relationships, courting partners, even, like, potential mates! Gone. Like I just... never knew them. It was all done to keep me from... straying when I learned too much. Straying from, you know, what people wanted me to do."

Cal had stopped eating, looking at the bite she'd left in the apple. She seemed pensive about something, too.

Owen laughed a little. "Sorry," he said. "I think that was a little too heavy. Guess it's been on my mind lately with the whole Joule thing. Had me getting all reflective."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr poked a claw idly at the table while Owen recounted the tale of all the lives he'd lived and all the memories that had been wiped. Yet another thing that would've sounded totally unbelievable just a few months ago, but didn't make her bat an eye now.

"Those past lives... you still think of them as you? That's what Wishkeeper was, yeah?" Starr paused, tail twitching agitatedly as she hunted for the right words. "Were any of them... someone you wouldn't even want to call you?" Sure, he'd been used as a weapon in the past, but. "I mean, I know you've mentioned some bad stuff, but like... that wasn't you, right? It was just your 'battle mode,' or whatever?"

Starr leaned back in her seat, looking upward. "Sometimes I think I want that. If I could just forget everything, and start over. It's appealing." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I know that's a shitty thing to say after what you went through and all."

That's the easy road. Escaping from the pain is easy. Facing it...

 

[Namohysip]

Despite the words, Owen smiled. "It's alright," he said. "I get it."

But that's all he said for a little while, but it was clear he was searching for the right words.

"Starr," he said. "What if, right now, that happened to you? You just... became a different person. The person you are right now, body and mind, would just... change, or be sealed away. Replaced by something else. All your friends, all your bonds, just forgotten. The... old you wouldn't be very happy about that, would she? To be... forgotten."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out a hollow chuckle. "Maybe that person deserves to be forgotten." Being someone else didn't sound half bad a lot of the time. She already felt like she'd been trying to be a different person ever since that day. Like everything since then was some mask, and anyone who got a good look would see who she really was underneath.

Starr exhaled long and slow, running a paw down her face. "I already know my friends would say that's bullshit--well, not in those words, but yeah. I used to think a lot about running away so they wouldn't have to be around the person who hurt them. Turns out they're a bunch of oversentimental idiots who don't know how to let go of the past."

She didn't add, 'so am I.'

 

[Namohysip]

Owen winced a little. "Guess... we have different perspectives on forgetting," he admitted. Wishkeeper had bristled a little when Starr remarked about someone deserving to be forgotten, as did Cal, perhaps for very different reasons. "I guess for me, it's more like... if I do forget, I'm also probably going to be repeating the same mistakes again later, you know?" He scraped at the bottom of the stew. "After how long I've lived with everyone keeping things from me, I want to know all the information I can. And that includes my past... Good and bad. So I guess in that way, I can't really let go of it, huh?" He tittered.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr grimaced at the mention of repeating the same mistakes again later. "Yeah, that's about the last thing I'd fucking want." What he was saying made sense, much as she hated to admit it. And it wasn't like she'd have asked him if she didn't want to be convinced of it, on some level.

"Hearing you say all that--finding out all the info you can, accepting the good and bad--reminds me a lot of my friend back home. Hell, you both wound up getting approached by Mew--how's that for wild." The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. "I dunno if that's weird, getting compared to a human. Your world's one of the ones that doesn't have 'em, right?"

 

[Namohysip]

It was a little sad, but he smiled nonetheless at that. "Y-yeah, both approached by Mew," he said. He wondered if the Mew Starr knew was better than... "I don't know if it's the translation or what, but it's kinda funny that you have a really similar name to the Mew I know," he remarked idly.

"But... yeah. No humans in mine. Um, in body, at least. After talking to a lot of the people here, I'm starting to get the feeling that it's a cosmic trend for all-Pokemon worlds to grab humans when there's trouble. Makes sense, though. Seems their auras can make Pokemon stronger. And so many humans that they pick are really... something." Owen's tone had gone from enthusiastic to a screeching melancholy so suddenly that it even surprised him.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr rubbed the back of her head. "Huh, so I guess this mission... isn't the first time you've dealt with humans then?" It was weird being seen as such a... curiosity by half the team. Most of them didn't even know what humans looked like. "Eh... I hope that's not that bad a thing. Humans kinda suck, I know."

 

[Namohysip]

"They don't," Owen said suddenly, a little too quickly. Realizing this, he looked off and said, "I mean, uh--it's just, yeah, some humans are bad, but... You know. It's the same as Pokemon, don't you think?" A little frazzled, Owen glanced away again. "Sorry. I don't really know how I feel about some of the humans I know, but... I feel like you guys are too hard on yourselves sometimes."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gave a small laugh. "Yeah, that's the human way, isn't it? Can't live without beating ourselves up. Then again, I've met some Pokemon here who need to give themselves a goddamn break, so yeah... we're not so different." She shrugged. "Anyway. Didn't mean to be such a fucking buzzkill." Another bite of curry. God, it needed more spice. "Don't suppose you got any Tamato on hand? Keep forgetting to buy some."

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, sure." Owen dug into his bag and pulled out a bottle that had a red label and what appeared to be a Charizard's skull on it, titled, 'Berry's Death Spice.' "This one isn't too bad. Recommends to only do two splashes, and that's a good amount for a decent heat. Add three if you're feeling spicy." Owen giggled, then pushed the bottle over to her. It smelled like death. Spicy, spicy death.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr grinned. "Oh, hell yeah." She took the bottle, opened the lid, and dumped two splashes of the stuff onto her curry. A pause, and then: "Fuck it." She added a third, mixing it thoroughly into the sauce before taking a big bite. Her eyes watered, and a burning pain consumed her entire mouth. Wonderful.

"Heelllll yeah that's the good stuff. Swear it's like I can't get enough of it since coming here. That sounds like the kind of thing that's probably some stupid fire-type stereotype, but whatever."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen laughed. "I don't really know! But I do like it, and I'm not gonna complain." He took a few more bites of his own before finishing his stew completely. Nodding, he added, "Um... but I think we should just do our best, all things considered. I hope we can train a little more together after this Joule stuff, though. Something tells me that once Joule's taken care of, we're far from done... Diyem seems like there's still more to cover."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"I guess it's too much to ask that this'd be the end of our job, huh?" Starr asked with a small chuckle. She scarfed down the rest of her curry in short order, reveling in the heat. "It's not so bad being a Pokemon, though--not gonna pretend like I'm not digging this strength. And with the kinds of bullshit our team's pulled off, well... I guess I can see why you're so sure we'll do alright."

The idea that they'd face the end of the world and come out of it even stronger. It was absolutely insane. And yet, it wasn't even close to the most insane thing they'd pulled off so far. So maybe, maybe she'd let herself believe that too.

<><><><><>​

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Another mealtime, another opportunity to touch base with a teammate.

[Brisket > Coba]: How do you do, Cabot? I'm taking lunch in the cafeteria in five minutes. If you'd care to join me, I've been hoping to speak with you about shadows. Hope to see you soon! Yrs, Brisa

Brisa went to the cafeteria counter and bought herself some paw food, just in case Cabot declined and she left for training elsewhere, eating on the move... Hopefully he was available. Flexible and adaptive scheduling meant getting more done overall, but it did make things less predictable...

 

[Virgil134]

[Coba > Brisket]: Hey there, Brisa! I'm doing great! 😄

[Coba > Brisket]: I was just about to get lunch myself, so I'll see you there soon!

Not long after Cabot had sent out the texts he entered the guild’s cafeteria, where he spotted Brisa sitting at one of the tables. The Cranidos waved at her, before grabbing some food and joining her.

"Sure feels like it's been a while since we last ate lunch together, huh?"