Poppin' Arms ~ Dorm Lounge

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I want to have a good time, I just can't help but think I'm gonna make an ass of myself." Brisa bent down and picked up Luz to hold it close. In her paws, the stone calmed a little, still vibrating intensely. "The last time I attended a fancy shindig, I offended the mayor's boy somehow and found myself in a duel over his honour. Mayor weren't too pleased when I bloodied his son's nose in a second flat. Haven't gone to many parties since."

She gave an awkward, lopsided grin, and hoped with half a heart that Starr might drop the original subject, or better yet, offer some levity of her own. They could use some after–

Brisa's mind went hot with anger as she first saw Starr sent flying by psychic power, then felt the mewtwo's remote grip around her throat.

Go on. Snap my fucking neck. Do it. I'll come back from where that sends me. I'll kill you. I'll fucking kill you. You'll never be rid of me, damn you.

She put a paw to her neck without a conscious thought.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr snorted. "I dunno, sounds pretty badass to me. And this isn't like your world where people are gonna give you shit for no reason just because you like battling or whatever. People are more chill here." She immediately flashed back to the confrontation she'd had with her roommate the last time they'd seen each other. Well... most people were chill here.

"Besides, the team actually likes you," she added. "There's no point in holding yourself back."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa made a begrudging face of agreement. People were more chill here. Hell, they celebrated her feats of combat in the colosseum.

"This ain't the first time you've said the team likes me," she mused. "Still can't say it feels true to me. But maybe I'm lookin' at it with the sun in my eyes and it's you who has it clear. I guess I can admit some folks do like me well enough..."

Do you like me, Starr?

She bit her tongue rather than say that, even as Luz pulsed more aggressively than ever. Maybe Starr thought of her as a friend, maybe she didn't. It didn't matter. Brisa had decided to be a friend to her, and that held true even after everything that had happened since. Like the evolution. Starr was so strong now. One of the strongest in the team, perhaps... as strong as Brisa.

"...Maybe well enough that I can be near 'em and not feel alone."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Brisa looked hesitant still, like something else was eating at her. But then she conceded all the same. Starr gave a satisfied nod. "Told ya. Now c'mon, we're missing out on free food."

But then her eyes drifted back to the stone that was now practically vibrating with energy. "Uh... should we be worried about that?" With a sinking feeling, she realized this was almost exactly like when Bahamut's shade had... when it had...

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

That was as good as an invitation for company. Well... darn! Brisa was about to reply with a positive response when Starr drew her attention back to Luz's energetic stirring.

"Oh, don't worry about Luz," she said. "It does this damn near any time I'm interactin' with people. In fact–"

But she was cut off by Luz jumping straight out of her paw and thudding to the floor. It spun faster than ever, and then came to an abrupt stop, whereupon a gelatinous mass emerged from the stone like black treacle from a tap, then faster, and upwards, forming a growing figure with limbs and tail and head...

"What in damnation?" hissed Brisa.

The dark, syrupy mass continued to form into a shape with more definition, and Brisa's suspicions were gradually confirmed as first fur patterns, then a comet-shaped tail like her own, and at last a pair of eyes lit up with a silver-blue light. It stood taller than Brisa on its hind legs, and flexed the dexterous claw-tipped digits at the ends of its paws experimentally.

"I ain't been anywhere in damnation, though I admit I've been conscious for barely a week," said the apparition.

Brisa gawped. There... could never be any etiquette for this.

"You're... you're a goddamn zeraora."

Luz grinned at her, a cheeky fang showing on one side of her mouth. "Sure am, Brisa darlin'. And I can't wait to test this body out on the sparring grounds. But first, why don't you introduce me to your remarkable friend here, huh?"

Brisa looked to Starr with a mix of trepidation, embarrassment, and pleading. "Starr, this is... Zeraora Luz. Patron legend of the Escarpa clan. Or a shadow of her made outta my memories of various myths, I guess. She's... a folk hero."

Luz beamed, crossing her arms and tilting her head back in satisfaction. "Pleased to meet you, Torracat Starr. You look like a real fighter. I like that." She leaned down and nudged Brisa with her elbow. "So does my gal here."

Brisa looked askance at Luz, and wished she'd never listened to that fucking poochyena. What the hell had she just been saddled with?

 

[Chibi Pika]

What.

Starr really had no idea how to process what the hell had just happened. She was now staring at a tall, bipedal cat, murky black with bits that glowed electric blue. She'd seen some of the shades hatch the other day, but it still didn't make the whole process any weirder to witness.

"Nice to... meet you too?" Starr said, still thunderstruck. Her eyes slid over to Brisa, who looked like she was trying not to be seen. "So you just... went and spawned a legendary hero out of thin air? Hot damn. Yeah, that’s a hell of a lot more impressive than my shade."

"What, you're not gonna introduce me?" he mock-whined from his perch in-between her shoulder blades.

Starr rolled her eyes. "Fine. Meet Lexx, this is my shithead brother—or a copy of him anyway. Haven’t figured out if that’s better or worse.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's tail rose at Starr's odd praise, but she was still too flustered by the whole event to muster much of a response.

"Uh, how d'you do, Lexx?" she managed.

Luz grinned and waved. "Hey, Lexx. Reckon he'll come out as a torracat too, or somethin' else?"

There was a deep feeling of perturbation in Brisa's head to look at Luz, now. She had the shape of a zeraora, but she was still composed of black, semi-translucent molasses. It was all kinds of unnerving. So she looked at 'Lexx' instead, and wondered what kind of character Starr's brother would be. Or have been, since this was a copy. Gods, Cibus was doing her head in.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Good to see that Brisa was just as weirded out by this whole thing as Starr felt. It was still beyond weird to see what had been a rock not even two minutes ago standing up and waving and talking. Then again, she'd been talking to a rock herself right before all this. Maybe she was just going insane.

"A Torracat? Uh... doubt it." She was having a hard time visualizing him as one. Then again, that was assuming this whole thing made any kind of sense at all, which was a tall order as far as she was concerned. "Said he was aiming for electric-type, though. Any ideas yet, by the way?" She glanced over her shoulder, directing that last bit at him. She was honestly a bit surprised he hadn't been running his mouth off more throughout this whole thing.

Lexx was silent for a few more moments, mulling something over. (She could actually feel that he was considering something. Damn psychic link.) Finally, he spoke up: "Just got one, actually."

Starr blinked. "Eh? What'd you decide?"

The stone on her back began to pulse.

Starr jolted, shaking him from her back and onto the floor. "God dammit at least warn me first!" she snapped.

The stone landed heavily on the ground and began oozing a thick black sludge. Starr instinctively took a step back as it expanded and twisted, growing in mass, stretching above her. Protrusions solidified into limbs. Goopy fringe condensed into furlike tufts. Glowing stripes lit up with a brilliant highlighter yellow...

"Are... are you fucking kidding me," Starr said flatly.

She was staring at... a bipedal electric cat. Shorter, leaner than Luz, with different markings. But the same goddamn species.

"You can't just copy her form!" Starr shouted indignantly. "Why are you like this, you always think you can just do whatever you want. Pick something else!"

Lexx's eyes opened, revealing brilliant yellow irises. He flashed a smirk, and it was infuriating how familiar that face was. "Too late."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa balked for a moment, then found herself stifling a dry chuckle. Starr's brother had... badly copied Luz. Okay. Incredible.

"Hey, the lad has taste," mused Luz, with a paw to her chin. "Can't say he's done half as good a job as I have, but that's menfolk for you."

The zeraora crouched down to Brisa's level and whispered in her ear in a conspicuously conspiratorial way. "I wasn't kiddin' about your friend. Look at those forelegs. What am I sayin'? You already have."

Wind and weather. Why was this happening. What the fuck.

"Luz, show some manners," Brisa warned, frighteningly aware that she was speaking with authority to the representation of a demigod. Luz just flashed another snaggle-toothed smirk and stood up.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Lexx just shrugged at Luz's backhanded compliment. "I'll take it. Works well enough for what I need. Reminds me a bit of my old team ace, actually," he said, admiring his markings. "Paws are a bit bulkier than I'd like, but the claws should make up for it." He flexed his digits experimentally, then clapped both paws together. "Well, it's been a pleasure! But I think I ought to use my newfound mobility to check out that party." He gave a mock bow, then turned and strode out of the guild building.

Well. Now that Lexx was gone (thank god he could leave without her getting an instant headache anymore) Starr turned her attention back to the others. Luz had just said something embarrassing to Brisa--not that that was hard.

"So, uh. That sure was a thing. Anyway, I'm heading out now--planning on coming with?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa hesitated. It wasn't like she was comfortable in Starr's presence yet, especially after what happened at Shaymin Village, which Starr had just brushed off when Brisa tried to apologise, and what happened when 'Mewtwo' appeared, which they hadn't discussed at all... but Brisa still wanted to go, nonetheless.

Luz kicked her lightly in the shin, earning a glare.

"Come on, darlin'!" begged Luz. "It's good food and good company and exactly the sort of thing you oughta try. And hey, if you make a faux pas, I'll have your back! And Starr will too, am I right?"

Luz flashed a fanged grin at the torracat with her hands confidently astride her hips. How had this zeraora-shade come from something in Brisa's mind? Had she ever been anything like this? Well, maybe once...

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr still wasn't used to being addressed by the... the what, Zeroara? (Something like that?) Whatever, the shade that had spontaneously materialized into a huge cat for the sole purpose of heckling Brisa, apparently. And it wasn't even the weirdest thing that had happened this week.

"Huh? Yeah, sure--someone gives you shit, I'll punch 'em in the face. Now c'mon," Starr said impatiently.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Well. That was unambiguous. And... reassuring. Brisa let herself relax, with some difficulty.

"Okay," she said. "Yeah. I'm comin'!"

"That's the spirit, darlin'!" said Luz, striding off towards the exit with no further banter.

Brisa followed, choosing to keep pace with Starr rather than the shadowy doppelganger of her cultural mythic hero. Brisa had no idea how to handle Luz's appearance, but unsettling as she was, her first action had been to somehow facilitate... this. Brisa, going to a party with Starr, to get food together. That was good. That was great. She... almost hoped she did get given shit, just to see Starr keep her promise...

<><><><>​

 

[Negrek]

After leaving Silver to his books, Nate had every intention of getting the hell out of the guild before things started, well, poppin' around here again. (Fucking hell, the place was even starting to turn him stupid.)

Hustling down the large, quiet corridors, though, he started to reconsider. He'd never really checked this place out, for obvious reasons. And who knew whether he'd ever get a better chance to explore a bit? He sure as hell wasn't about to set up shop here, but he couldn't admit some curiosity about the digs most of the rest of the team was taking advantage of.

Nate turned away from the front lobby, taking off down a side hallway instead. Most of the doors here looked like they were just dorm rooms, pokémon's names slotted into the holders next to them. Nate tried a couple handles, but they were locked. Voices sounded from behind a third, and Nate hurried on his way, throwing a couple nervous glances over his shoulder.

It wasn't long before he found the stairs. Down that way... The sign said "cafeteria." Good to know, he supposed, although with his unlimited meal tickets he didn't expect he'd be showing up to eat here real often. Looked like there was an infirmary on the ground floor, too. Not too interesting. He wandered on until he heard faint music coming from somewhere. There was a room at the end of the hall where the door was open, but Nate couldn't hear any voices. He slunk along until he could peer around the corner.

Huh. Some kind of lounge thing. There were cushions strewn all over, books and boardgames and tables with the careless detritus of people who hadn't bothered cleaning up from their last hang-out. And a fridge. Nate went to see if there was anything good inside, but paused at the list of rules on the front. It was still weird to be able to look at writing like this--which as far as Nate could tell wasn't even proper writing, just a bunch of footprint shapes stamped in rows--and immediately be able to tell what it said. Thanks, Diyem.

So supposedly you could be as loud as you wanted in the lounge, but no... surfing? Nate puzzled over that one, then smiled broadly. Well, he hadn't exactly been thinking of it, but now that it got mentioned...

 

[Persephone]

Cuicatl hurried down the halls, hoping to catch up to her target before he left. But the scent led down, deeper into the guild. She slowed her steps and regulated her breathing before finding a door with a single heartbeat behind it. She opened it with a quick bite and turn of her head.

“Hi... are you Nate?”

 

[Negrek]

Nate jumped and slammed the refrigerator shut. Goddammit, this is what he got for not cutting out when he had the chance. Guess people were coming back from the party already. "Who the fuck wants to know?" he asked. Hopefully not the rightful owner of the pizza he'd been eating.

 

[Persephone]

“Oh, right.” Sometimes sighted people also didn’t know who they were dealing with. It was easy enough to forget that back home given her distinctive appearance. “Hi, I’m Cuicatl. Someone told me that you had extra lumps...?”

 

[Negrek]

Kwee-what? Now that he'd had a moment to calm down a bit, Nate thought he recognized her, at least. Deino, yeah. He'd seen her around now and again. Pretty quiet one. And if she was as lucky as some of their other teammates, she'd probably be evolving soon. Being blind had to suck, but if you got to be a hydreigon on the other end of it... Probably worth it, honestly.

Unfortunately he still had no clue why the fuck she was actually talking to him. "Lumps? The fuck are you talking about?"

 

[Persephone]

“The thing that people are making familiars from? I want one and I heard you had extra... although I guess you might want a lot of familiars.”

Cuicatl wouldn’t mind that. She could have her brother and Alice. Or Pixie. Hell, if she had Coco here she wouldn’t even have to leave.

 

[Negrek]

Familiars? Nate thought the deino'd been asking him if he had fucking cancer or some shit. "Familiar" didn't ring any fucking bells, either. But maybe she meant shades? They were kind of like that. Psychic bond and all.

Wait, yeah, he had picked up some extra shade-stones, hadn't he? Nate reached into his pack and dug around for them; by now they'd managed to work their way down to the bottom. And Rocky kept nudging his arm while he was searching--playfully? Well, at least the guy was feeling better.

After a couple seconds rooting around, Nate pulled one of the stones out, then hastily wiped a bit of crushed and fermenting berry off it. "You mean one of these things?"