Poppin' Arms ~ Dorms

[Dragonfree]

Dave froze when the Shadow limb appeared. "Whoa, what... the fuck is that?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, that's just Wi--I mean, an old sel--I mean, uh. My Shadow." Technically all of those answers were correct, though this one was technically the most accurate. "I've been trying to keep him from showing up and scaring people, but he's a little defiant still..."

 

[Dragonfree]

"...What." The Shadows had been attacking them. Hadn't they de-shadowed them? Was Owen still... what? "I'm sorry, why is your Shadow still here? What do you mean, your old self?"

 

[Namohysip]

"It's... a really long story," Owen explained evasively, eyes glancing left. "But it's been happening to a lot of us who have had their Shadows start to form, kind of like Radiance. I think the Shadow Machine just accelerated the process for us. But this is different; the Shadows aren't... hostile, at least, not if I have too much of it. So, just like Radiance. He, uh, my Shadow seems to be from a part of me that I lost a long time ago, if that makes any sense. Like, people change over time, right? So you can change a lot if a lot of time passes..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Well, that was... unsettling. Owen definitely seemed sane right now, though. Could Radiance also manifest as bizarre light-apparitions? He supposed it made sense Owen's old self had been a Charizard, if everyone got thrown into their first forms in Cibus.

Dave sighed. "Right. Well, I don't exactly have a lot of stuff. Mostly Squiggly and the battle shit." He shrugged the bag off, maneuvered the rock out of it and placed it on the floor. Pausing, he frowned at it as it wobbled slightly. "Are they supposed to hop?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Um, I think mine is just more energetic than usual," Owen said. "Does Squiggly seem to be content? Maybe he just likes to, um, chill out."

Shady rolled over to Squiggly and playfully bumped against him, making a dense knock sound when he did.

"I heard that others aren't really bonding with theirs as much, which, I mean, I guess I understand, but I hope they do soon..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave squinted at the rock, trying to feel the psychic link. As best he could tell, Squiggly felt fine. Right? There was a tinge of worry there, but... that was probably just echo, wasn't it. Goddamn it. "Yeah, he's fine."

He watched Shady bump into Squiggly. Squiggly bumped back, making a light tapping sound. It really seemed like he just couldn't quite move as much. Fuck. Was he just not energetic enough for the psychically bonded rock? Must be this happy-go-lucky to proceed? Fuck that. Being a parent was exhausting enough when they weren't fucking psychic.

He sighed in irritation. "Yeah, I was talking to Starr earlier and she was trying to just get rid of hers. Pretty spooked by the bit where they possess people, you know? Only then I guess she decided she wasn't. I think."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen frowned. "I can't really imagine letting Shady go," he said. "He seemed scared at the idea of going off on his own after being lost and confused before, I guess. You know, with the whole possession thing, and doing it more out of instinct than... I don't know."

There was a lot to unpack there.

"A-anyway, I'm glad Squiggly's fine. If he's worried about anything with me, I mean, I don't blame him for stabbing me or anything like that. Like, he couldn't help it, and he was agitated, y'know? Besides, it was just a stab."

 

[Dragonfree]

Fuck. What? "That's not... I mean, he wasn't puppeteering the Garchomp around. They just bring out whatever shit's going on in people's own heads, right? It's not like he decided to stab you." On the floor, Squiggly wobbled uncertainly. Did the shade feel guilty about stabbing Owen? Come on. Seriously? None of this was Squiggly's fault. Why would he even think that?

Dave dragged a paw over his face. Well, Owen was saying he didn't mind it. From anyone else he would've probably taken that as a passive-aggressive oh-but-I-totally-do-mind, but Owen had literally just obliviously asked him to sleep with him. He wasn't sure the Charmander would be capable of being subtle if he tried.

"Look, just tell me where to put my stuff."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen frowned. "Did... did I say something wrong?" And then Owen listened to something that only he could hear, and then quickly cleared his throat, chittering something in some animalistic language. "Right, um, you can have the other half of the room! I kept it tidy so dust didn't settle there or anything. I, er, I didn't mean anything by the stuff Squiggly did, or anything... Like, it wasn't like they knew any better, y'know? With what they were doing to the Pokemon they got to."

This was getting awkward fast. "Sorry, I guess I kinda, um, projected a little. I'm no stranger to attacking others when I didn't know better." Half-lie but it worked well enough.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Cool. Thanks." Dave set his bag down on the bed on the other side. Honestly he half-wanted to just crash right now. How long had it been since he'd slept in an actual bed?

This was getting awkward fast. "Sorry, I guess I kinda, um, projected a little. I'm no stranger to attacking others when I didn't know better." Half-lie but it worked well enough.

Dave looked up. "Hmm? You mean when you got shadowed in the fight?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, uh. No. I took that pretty well, actually. I think I just crouched down and tried to think about doing techniques that didn't actually attack you guys, or something." Owen wondered if this was a good topic to bring up so readily. Still, he imagined a few people might already find out about it one way or another, between Brisa and Bahamut.

...Well, no. They didn't seem like the sort to so readily say things like that about him.

"A long time ago I was more or less, uh, well, used as a weapon," Owen explained matter-of-factly. "I didn't really question it or fight against it, either, since it was just what I knew to do at the time. So, you know. The Shades and I have that in common."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave turned around and stared at him. "Jesus. What the fuck? Who was -- why?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen wanted to wave dismissively, but the way Dave addressed him gave him pause. Perhaps he should treat the situation with more respect, even if he'd gone over it several times by now.

"I used to... be someone that was used to gather up some special objects. Problem is, those objects were in the possession of some Pokemon, like, as part of them. So the only way to really gather them was to convince them to join us, or..." Owen sighed. "Back then, I was... I could get into a 'battle mode.' I love battle, always did, but that was... different."

 

[Dragonfree]

A cold shiver trickled down Dave's spine. "Jesus."

Fucking hell. Owen had killed people? Owen? (Again he wondered exactly how fucking old he was - was he some kind of child soldier?) And why the fuck was he telling him this, out of the blue, here? All he wanted was a goddamn roommate. How was everyone in this group so fucking damaged?

He considered making an excuse and finding a different room to stay in. He didn't.

Dave sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. "That's... that's deeply fucked up, Owen. Look, I... that's over, right? When you get home you'll be, you know, not being used to kill people?"

A sudden nauseating flash of thought struck him, of an army recruiter talking to Mia, or Gabriel, or any of them, really, and he shoved it back down. He wasn't even fucking gone. He'd be back the moment he'd been taken and wouldn't remember any of this.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen smiled. "Mostly, it's gone. I have it under control. Dave..." He cocked his head to the side a little. "Don't worry about me. The way you've been reacting to stuff like this the past month or so... I think you have enough you need to worry about. I'm fine--really, I am. I know I act a little youthful at times, but I like to think I can handle something like this after all the time I've dealt with it."

Then, with a subdued laugh, he added, "All things considered, I think I'm faring well here anyway. My Shadow side and I are cooperating already, for one. I don't think I can say the same for the others just yet... So as roommates, you won't, like, expect me to--" Owen paused. "Oh... Hm..." Something now seemed to genuinely concern him. "Do you need total darkness at night? I'll go out and buy a flame cover if you do. It's not a problem. I have one at home, too, if I ever need to go someplace like a library."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave almost started to object to the "way you've been reacting" shit (what was that supposed to mean), but no, if Owen was going to change the subject to something not involving his child soldier murder past, that was a-okay by him. He waved a paw. "No, no, it's fine. Can't be that bad."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, let me know," Owen said, nodding. Then, with a smile, he said, "Er, so, uh, how has Destiny Village been treating you? I didn't expect it to be so... advanced? This stuff is something a few decades ahead of where I used to live, at least. Especially compared to Treasure Town. Maybe that was just a more traditional location..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave shrugged. "Haven't been here very long, but it feels a lot more like where I used to live than Treasure Town, apart from the nonsense tech."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen laughed a little. "Nonsense tech, huh?" he said. He wondered if Dave was still obsessing over how his paws were able to pick things up. Then again, now that Dave actually brought it up, that left Owen wondering the same thing. He had taken it for granted for so long...

Owen lost the mood to read for now and set his book on his bedside. "Well, anyway, I'm glad you picked me for a roommate. I'll, uh, I promise I'll try not to make it more awkward. D'you need help settling in?"