Poppin' Arms ~ Dorms

[Virgil134]

"Hey there, Luz."

Pleo waddled into the room after Kate, lacking most of his usual enthusiasm. While he definitely felt better than he did last week, being forced to say goodbye to Cabot yet again had made it hard to feel very cheerful.

"We're workin' on a way to get 'em back," she remarked, off-handedly. "Maple's in on it an' everythin', so I'm sure it'll all work out jus' fine. You'll see."

The Lugia looked up at Luz, shifting a bit uneasily. While Diyem had assured them that with the Tree of Life's power he could revive everyone just fine, his conversation with Bahamut a few days ago still lingered in the back of his mind.

"Do you think we'll be safe from Eternatus when we bring Cabot and the others back?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I really couldn't say, partner. Eternatus ain't somethin' I know too much about!"

Or someone, as it may be...

Augh. Luz didn't have energy left to contemplate stuff like that or reassure Pleo. Every time she questioned something like the personhood of a world-eating entity her first instinct was to talk to Bria about it and no matter how hard or how often she sent her thoughts to her host, nothing came back. Even now.

To hell with it.

"Hey Kate," she said, her voice and face blisteringly cheerful, "were ya plannin' on spendin' the time somehow?"

Please be unrelated to anything and everything associated with Brisa. Please.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate flattened her ears out at Luz's question and pawed at the back of her head.

"I... was honestly going to wing it a bit. I mean, I'm normally a card-playing 'mon, but I still haven't figured out these decks in Cibus," she admitted, before giving a small shake at a pouch at her waist that audibly rattled as she moved it.

"I did pick up some dice though, so we could always-"

Kate trailed off as she noted the Shinx doll lying to the side, making her raise a brow back quizzically at Luz.

"Oh? Something you picked up from a shop?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Mm? Oh. It's a lil' somethin' Mimikyu Leg made fer Brisa. Back before I existed, Brisa got trapped in the reverse world fer a spell, and Leg made this as some kinda wish fer her t'return safely..."

Her eyes felt peculiar again. She couldn't even cry, she was a shade, and she wasn't upset, so by all accounts it made no sense at all that her eyes should feel this way. But they did.

"I'm wishin' that right now."

She saw the expressions on her companions' faces and grinned hugely.

"Got plenty of time fer dice, if that's what we're doin'!" she finished, confidently.

 

[Virgil134]

Luz's comment made Pleo look over at Kate's pouch, prompting him to tilt his head.

"Eh? But how would we play with those?" he asked. "Cabot knew how to play dice games, but... he never got around to show me."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate reached onto a nearby counter and snatched three simple cups. She opened her bag and poured five dice in each of them, before picking up one of them and giving it a brief rattle.

"I guess this'll be a learning experience either way, but tell me, did your worlds have 'Liar's Dice' by any chance?" she asked.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz searched her memories of such games of chance as Brisa had had the opportunity to play. Townies tended to accuse roughlander types who got good at anything of cheating, and the luxio line in particular of using x-ray vision to do so, so it hadn't been many. Still, Doubter's Dice was one.

"Somethin' under a similar name usin' the same materials, anyhow. We playin' fer stakes?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate looked about the room, and saw that Pleo was still in his down mood from earlier. While Luz seemed enthusiastic and eager for a fun time, something about it felt... forced, to say the least. She herself was unsure how well she'd take losing some pocket money with how tense the past days had been, and if she felt that way, it was probably for the best not to assume Pleo or Luz were doing any better.

"Let's... ease into things first," the Sneasel insisted. "After all, the rules might be a bit different from however you two are used to playing this."

Kate divided up the dice between the cups and walked the Ultra Shades through the basic rules of Liar's Dice. How the 'mon who started the round determined whether 1s were wild or fixed, the normal turn of order, how to up a bet and how to challenge a prior one, that the game was a matter of looking at your dice and trying to guess the outcome based off your competitors' behavior... basic things. The Sneasel passed the cups and dice out as she wrapped up the explanation, before turning the topic back to what stakes they'd be playing for.

"We'll make the wager a chance to find out a bit about each other," she said. "The winner of each challenge gets to ask something that the loser has to answer. Seem reasonable?"

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo nodded in response. "Okay."

The Lugia had to admit the rules sounded a little confusing, even though he could have sworn that Cabot knew about this specific game. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to this when looking through Cabot's memories, but alas. At least the game sounded like it could be fun, and surely it would make more sense once they started playing... right?

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

The three shook their cups and set them down against the floor, each sneaking peeks at the dice underneath. Kate did the same with her own dice, noting there were a pair of fives and no wilds among her dice. While it wouldn't be that unreasonable for other fives to be on the table, it did carry a risk of boxing herself in since a 'mon could only raise the bet so much from there. The Sneasel spotted a lone two among her dice, when she decided that while gutsy, the best opening would be to start with a lower number and raise from there.

"I bet four twos. What have you got, Luz?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Well, Kate was a sharp one, wasn't she? This would be good for getting to know one another, and exciting without exacting an actual loss. To Luz the appeal was considerable. It wasn't like she had much to bet, anyway.

"Winner gets a free truth outta the loser. I like those stakes!"

Luz checked her dice and smirked to herself.

"Well fer starters, I'll go higher and wider. Five threes."

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo carefully peeked under his cup again by lifting it with a wing. The cup tilted back before almost tipping over, prompting him to hurriedly catch it with his other wing, before shooting back a sheepish smile.

"I'll go with six threes?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate raised a brow back at Pleo skeptically, before shooting a small smirk back.

"Now I'm having a bit of trouble seeing that being true, Pleo," she said. "I'll challenge that bet there!"

 

[Virgil134]

"Uh... okay."

Pleo stared at Kate blankly for a moment, expecting something to happen, only for an awkward silence to fill the room. He shifted a bit uneasily, wondering if perhaps he was forgetting something.

"What am I supposed to do again?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Pleo, darlin', now we reveal our dice!"

Luz flipped her cup to reveal a solitary three, Kate another, and Pleo, alas, with two threes and a wild one. Five total.

"That's too bad, sweetheart. We're just shy of six threes betwixt us. Now Kate here gets t'ask you a question, an' y'gotta answer truthfully."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Uh... okay."

Pleo stared at Kate blankly for a moment, expecting something to happen, only for an awkward silence to fill the room. He shifted a bit uneasily, wondering if perhaps he was forgetting something.

"What am I supposed to do again?"

"Pleo, darlin', now we reveal our dice!"

Luz flipped her cup to reveal a solitary three, Kate another, and Pleo, alas, with two threes and a wild one. Five total.

"That's too bad, sweetheart. We're just shy of six threes betwixt us. Now Kate here gets t'ask you a question, an' y'gotta answer truthfully."

Kate shook her head and smiled back at the young Lugia.

"Well, since we know the results," she said. "The first thing to do is take one of your dice out of play."

The Sneasel leaned over and palmed one of Pleo's dice, letting it slide back and forth between her claws bemusedly.

"From there, it's just a matter of getting that truth out of ya before you start the next round."

Kate returned the die back to the bag she took it from, before pawing at her chin and musing aloud to herself.

"So how exactly does Cabot know you again?" she asked. "I can't say I've ever heard of Lugia getting as small as you where I'm from. So how'd he wind up making you you?"

 

[Virgil134]

"Well, I first met Cabot when I was traveling with my friends," Pleo began. "I ran into him on Sormus when he and the rest of the navy captured us..."

He paused, realizing that what he just said made Cabot sound less than flattering, prompting him to hastily amend his words.

"B-But things turned out alright!" the Lugia insisted. "Cabot helped convince Nagant to let us go after all, and he delivered a letter to my friends when I was held in the palace, and I even gave him a big hug the day before Diyem summoned him!"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Pleo talked about it like he really was the flesh and blood Pleo. Was that a peculiarity of speech, or did he really feel like he was 'Pleo'?

Best not to ask about that, probably

"Sounds like th'two of ya really hit it off. I'm guessin' there were a reason he and his were out to capture you, then?"

 

[Virgil134]

"It's because they want me to help reunite the Empire," Pleo explained. "The other me back home is a lot stronger, and they want to use my powers to defeat the Company."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate flattened her ears at Pleo's explanation and curled her mouth down into a dubious frown.

"I dunno, I can't say anything about this 'Company' they've got a problem with, but not sure if I'd really be rooting for that Empire there," she said. "If they went and captured you and tried to keep you cooped up to fight for them, just how worth it could it be to reunite it?"