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Rocky Road ~ House of Brisa, Dave, Koa, and Owen

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Dragonfree

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Iceland
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she/her/hers
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  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
  7. chinchou
"No, I'm... I should get going anyway."

Dave heaved himself back off the couch. He could take a hint. Besides, he did have shit to do. Interrogate the parasite. Try to find the last Substitute. Talk to Flesh. Yeah. Some of that. Probably.
 

Chibi Pika

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Dave was opting to... head out while looking half-dead. Alright then. Not like she could judge, what with how many times she'd done the same thing. She'd have the place to herself, which was fine. Ideal.

There was silence, after Dave left. Starr didn't much like silence. She let herself sink into the chair and figured she'd just close her eyes for a moment. Someone could wake her later. Hopefully Brisa. She didn't really have the energy to care if it ended up being Koa or Owen, though.

Dave's words wouldn't leave her head. Your dad's fucking vile. None of this is your fault.

He didn't get it. He didn't. But telling him that stuff made her feel... lighter somehow.

<><><>​
 
R14 – Dave & Brisa Discuss Troubles

Dragonfree

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Iceland
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she/her/hers
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  1. butterfree
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  3. charizard
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  6. slugma
  7. chinchou
Dave stumbled his way home after the encounter with Saltriv, the takeout bag swaying. He just had to get in the kitchen and leave it. So long as he could still deal with the parasite. Ask the right questions. What was he going to... Fuck.

One way or another, he made it home and managed to open the door.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Brisa looked up from her spread of notes on the coffee table in the living area and assessed Dave. He looked like shit, he looked drunk, he looked depressed. Pretty normal for him, lately. Wind and weather...

"Y'need a paw?" she asked, naked concern bleeding into her voice.

Hopefully he'd do the usual Dave thing of insisting she not help him. Her notes took a lot of focus, and she still felt sore all over, physically and emotionally, from the Zekrom battle and that shit with Mewtwo...
 

Dragonfree

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  1. butterfree
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  7. chinchou
"'m fine." Dave shuffled into the kitchen, put the bag down and managed to shift enough stuff around to fit it on a shelf in the fridge.

He should get going again, interrogate the fucking parasite. (Was there even any point? Was it even going to change anything? Soda sure hadn't seemed to think so.) He stood there looking at the door, breathing in and out, his body heavy and unsteady. Fuck.

He'd just get a bit of rest. Sober up a bit. Remember what the fuck he was even going to do.

With a heave, he returned to the living room. Brisa was there, all intense focus, reading papers she'd spread all over the coffee table. He waved a paw at her in greeting and nearly fell over before collapsing onto the couch again.

"Starr catch you earlier?" he mumbled.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
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they/she
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  1. purrloin-salem
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  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"Mm? Yeah." Brisa looked up again, wondered if Dave ought to have someone take him to get fucking medical attention, by thunder. Or at least a coffee and a painkiller. Yeah.

Brisa got up and went to sort that out for the mightyena, talking from the kitchenette as she did.

"Yeah, she's off-balance since our last mission. Been takin' her fer trainin' drills and Colo matches as usual t'keep her steady, give her some wins. Seems like it's helpin'. Still worryin' myself sick all the same."

Maybe you just need to feel it yourself.

Brisa's throat clenched up. She kept making coffee.
 

Dragonfree

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"That's good. She was here and we talked and... yeah. Fuck her fucking dad, huh? Team Spectrum's just one big fucking terrible father convention."

In more ways than one. He smelled coffee, vaguely wondered if he should ask her to make him some too, but she was probably pretty pissed at him already, for any of several possible reasons.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
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  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"T'this an' that degree, yeah."

Brisa finished the coffee, put a couple drops of lum and persim tincture in it for the hangover, and brought it over to Dave with a frown.

"Drink up. And maybe go easy on that shitty beer. Ain't right, havin' you stumble about lookin' three steps from keelin' over."

She sighed, and slumped onto the couch. Maybe she should quit drinking at home for the time being. Not that it would make a difference.

"Yeah, I've half a mind some days to take out my shit on him," she drawled, bitterly. "Ain't even the same bastard, but close enough. And I bet I could lay him out, frankly."

Who knew. She was taking out gods left and right these days.
 

Dragonfree

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Dave blinked up at her as she put the coffee in front of him. Wait, what?

She didn't look like she'd ever intended it for anyone else. "...Thanks," he mumbled.

He pushed himself vaguely upright, picked up the cup and took a sip. She'd added something to it that he couldn't entirely identify through the taste of the coffee. Not terrible, though.

"She seemed a bit, uh. Real concerned that you were okay after the beating you took from her in Maple's Voidlands. I tried to tell her you're the last person in the fucking world who'd hold it against her."
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
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  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"You'd be right," said Brisa, nodding slowly. "I've been tellin' her as much since we were trapped in that fuckin' pit t'gether fer a couple days an' nights."

She put a paw to one of the sore spots on her other foreleg and winced. It had been a hell of a beating. Worth it, to get Starr through that fucking possession thing...

"I don't know if I oughta worry about the reaction from the rest of the posse," she said. "But I guess she mostly just hurt me, and I'm fine, so... Maybe everyone else will let it go the way they let it go when me an' a few others frenzied from the Shadow Machine."

You have to put me down.

"I guess I'm more worried about whether she'll forgive herself. Fer that incident, or fer any of the shit the parasite dredged up."
 

Dragonfree

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"Well, if anyone doesn't let it go, let me at them. Literally possessed by a fucking parasite. Do they have any coherent concept of moral responsibility." The parasite. Couldn't forget about the parasite, at the lab. God.

He put down the coffee cup and rubbed at his eyes. "She tell you Giovanni recruited her into Team Rocket when she was fucking twelve?"
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
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  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
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  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"Not in so many words, but I figure she was goddamn young, yeah. Seventeen when Diyem called her, recruited some years before . . . naturally she was a kid at the time."

Dave could just be remarking on something he found disturbing or pushing this 'Starr had no choice' angle or something else and she was too tired to guess which.

"What's yer point, Dave?" she asked, her fatigue obvious in her voice.

It was probably the agency thing. Dave had tried to pretend Shadows weren't really anything to do with their hosts, after all. Brisa, though... Brisa knew that wasn't true.

I did that. Deliberately. Still think I'm better than you?

Moral responsibility, huh? Brisa scowled. Starr hadn't been possessed by a parasite when she'd done those things. She hadn't been twelve at the time, either.

But Brisa didn't need to absolve Starr in order to forgive her.
 

Dragonfree

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"My point is that's fucked up." She was definitely pissed at him. Figured; she rarely wasn't. Why the fuck was she pissed about this? He was far too exhausted to try to figure that out. "Guy recruits his own twelve-year-old daughter into his criminal organization, sends her out to -- she strongly implied he made her carry out hits on people. Or, like, she said that was a few years later, but either way. What the fuck."

He shook his head. He should just stop talking and leave her alone. She obviously had shit to do. Maybe he could just take a nap in the bedroom.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
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  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
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  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Brisa nodded, and hated that most of what she felt was relief, that Starr had let on to someone that she'd killed people – you always kinda believed that, huh – and that person had been Dave, and he'd taken it this way. This way, and not . . . worse.

"Thanks fer havin' her back," Brisa said, quietly. "And fer that moment durin' the fight. You held up yer barriers until y'needed t'capture the fuckin' parasite."

She looked him in the eye and hoped he understood.

She told him about the killin' first, huh.

"Dave... Starr ain't exactly lettin' on how she's feelin', but I can tell it ain't good. Did she... What kinda stuff did ya discuss with her?"
 

Dragonfree

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"I mean, all kinds of shit." Brisa's expression had softened. Maybe it was something else she was pissed about. Whatever. "She came here looking for you, to make sure you were okay. Thought this was totally different from your episode with the Shadow Machine because that was just pulling out shit you'd been told you were, like her corruption episode about how all she does is hurt people was just the merciless truth." He sighed. "Then we talked about the Team Rocket shit, and her friends back home, and went off on this fucking tangent about Pokémon training. Seem to be a lot more nonchalant about kids adventuring on their own over there. Told her about my daughter." A pang of something in his stomach. "Don't know if any of that helped."

He closed his eyes, laying his head back down flat on the couch. "You're pretty worried about her, aren't you," he muttered. "She's lucky she's got you."
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Yeah, that tracked with everything Starr had ever said. Brisa was good, and her fears of being a danger were unfounded. Starr had actually harmed people, terribly, deliberately, irrevocably. Starr sure believed that. And she wasn't stupid, either, but... She sure did more than just hurt people. She did.

But then Dave moved on, and Brisa let the topic go.

"Yeah," she said, sighing. "I worry about everyone, you know. But it sure sometimes seems like the folks I love the most give me the most to worry about."

Her eyes flicked meaningfully to Dave, still looking hungover as shit.

"I hope I make a difference," she said, softly. "I hope what I do helps her."
 

Dragonfree

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"Probably. She sure was desperate to see you and make up for, you know, getting possessed." Dave opened his eyes and picked up the coffee again. Couldn't fall asleep. The fucking parasite. He blinked blearily as he sipped from the cup.

"So when are you going to ask her out?"
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
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  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
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  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"Yeah, she seemed antsy. Figured she needed t'feel like things could be normal, so obviously I got her t'hit the Colo. Been meanin' t'have a more considered conversation, though..."

"So when are you going to ask her out?"

Brisa's ears flattened back and she bowed her head. There'd be no hiding after a reaction like that, oof...

"Were y'just jokin' or is it that obvious?" she asked, sheepishly. "I ain't doin' any of this 'cause I'm tryin' t'get her t'date me, though."

She stared at her paws and felt her eartips grow hot.

"I was thinkin' 'bout askin', before the eventualities of last mission," she admitted. "Still might."
 

Dragonfree

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"It's pretty obvious." Dave took another sip of coffee, a hint of a smirk tugging the corner of his mouth. "You worry about everyone, but the way you look at her? While doing your special paired fusion attack? Not subtle."

He put the cup down and leaned against the back of the sofa again. "In the middle of processing parasite-possession-trauma isn't the best time, maybe, but once it is, just fucking go for it. What's the worst that could happen." Starr hadn't sounded like she'd take it badly, anyway. Harder to tell if she actually reciprocated, but better than just pining forever and never even knowing.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Obvious enough, then. At least to some. Was she being too obvious? Yikes.

Brisa grimaced and contemplated just how badly asking someone out could go. She'd read some dramatic enough rejections in her romance pulps. Or there were . . . the couple times she'd ever given someone a love confession before...

But even if her own feelings turned out not to be reciprocated, even at worst she couldn't really see Starr rebuffing her harshly. Or wanting to see less of her. Or treating her all that differently.

There's no way she doesn't have some idea how y'feel. And could it really be that Starr feels nothin' of the sort towards ya when she fires off the other half of yer Arcflares? Come on, now.

"Reckon y'might have somethin' there. Guess I'll take yer point," she said, some tension leaving her shoulders. "Thanks fer the advice. Maybe if I can get her past some of that trauma, as y'call it, I'll make mention of how I feel."

Plus, she was starting to feel awkward about how she'd told her therapist she'd do exactly that, and she didn't much fancy explaining to Fugu why she'd been too craven to speak up. What would Fugu think of Starr, anyway? What would Starr experience, having her feelings sent back at her by Fugu?

"I think I oughta direct Starr to the therapists' office," she mused. "She'd get decent enough results outta Fugu, I think, even considerin' she ain't a born 'mon."

And for that matter...

"You oughta swing by there yerself, Dad," she added, with a pointed look and a tired smile.
 
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