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

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa groaned through clenched teeth. Where to begin? Most recent development, maybe.

"Just finished havin' it out with Cynthian 'fore I came home," she said. "Gal came up to me while I was burnin' anger in the Park to demand I explain myself, again, 'bout why I could possible countenance not spillin' all the details about Soda and his lure to every fuckin' child on the team with a day to go 'til the mission."

She clenched a paw so hard the knuckles cracked, and a couple stray sparks crackled off her whiskers. "And I ain't even fuckin' talked to the ones who're more upset than her. Icetales. Mellow. Wind an' weather an' wildfire, you'd think I'd personally set fire to their goddamn outhouses or somethin'."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr raised an eyebrow as high as it would go "...The fuck? Why should they have known? How the hell would that have helped anything? Would've just made sure that the news got to Maple ahead of time, more like. Enjoy getting royally fucked up once Maple went full Blacklight, everyone." She scoffed again, pausing just long enough to pop the top on a can and take a drink. "God, it's like they've never dealt with sensitive intel."

Most of them... probably hadn't. Still, it should've been goddamn obvious that that sort of thing was a need-to-know.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa stared at Starr, eyes widening, before grabbing the couch cushion beside her, pressing her face into it, and letting out a long, low, tortured yowl.

"Exactly fuckin' that!" she wailed. "Starr, that's practic'ly word fer word what I said to Cynthian? It's like they're all off their goddamn mental reservation. Like they feel left out or somethin', like that's worth riskin' everyone's safety. Holy fuckin' shit." She groaned softly. "Heard someone say somethin' 'bout not bein' trusted. It was fuckin' need-to-know information! Gods above!"

 

[Chibi Pika]

"God. No wonder you're going nuts, dealing with that. Honestly, let 'em be mad. It's their problem, not yours."

Starr did find her mind drifting back to the situation back home. She'd been pissed about her friends not telling her about the goddamn "chosen by legends" thing. This was... kind of similar.

...Except that was obviously different, because not knowing about the chosen thing also made it fucking impossible to know what the plan even was half the time and also made it so she couldn't even protect them. It wasn't the same at all.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Thank you," moaned Brisa, face pressed against the couch. "It's just one more setback makin' me wonder if people actually like an' respect me, though. If they're so prepared to get this fuckin' mad at me fer that shit. Had enough on my mind already about findin' a date."

Starr was making one of her faces. This one said, 'well, now you have to elaborate, (and also you're a halfwit, but that's okay)'.

She sighed. " ...I've been tryin' my paw a li'l at hangin' out with folks, feelin' out the terrain fer courtin', and without much luck. Still got my mind on Astrid, besides. At least I'm not dwellin' on Cream so much any more."

She looked at Starr's bemused expression and relaxed. She was gonna chide her and somehow it was make her feel better rather than worse. How did that even work?

 

[Chibi Pika]

'Feeling out the terrain.' Well, that was one way to put it.

Starr folded her arms behind her head. "Yeah? Is that between the three colo matches a day, or during?" Her face split into a crooked grin. "Cause if you're scoping out tough dates, I saw that Lugia's got a match this weekend. Who knows, maybe she's single."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"...huh? Lugia? Yeah, she's single."

Brisa's brain caught up with her mouth a second too late, and processed Starr's devilish grin with utter horror.

"W-wait, I—"

Brisa's ears went into meltdown, and she covered her face, half expecting her burning cheeks would set fire to the couch.

"I'm not plannin' on courtin' Lugia!" she protested, muffled by her paws.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr covered her face with her palm, struggling to contain a wave of hysterical giggling. "Holy shit. Wow, okay, that worked better than it had any right to." And it looked like she wasn't much thinking about all that previous bullshit, which was the real win.

"Hey, I'm not judging--if you wanna fight all the compatible girls on Cibus then go for it," she added, clapping Brisa on the back between the shoulder blades.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Maybe I will!" Brisa retorted, uselessly. But Starr's laughter and the physical touch were relaxing her too much to be genuinely annoyed. Her face emerged from her paws and she sheepishly looked to the side. "I actually check sometimes before a fight, just in case. So you might even be right, an' this is how I find someone."

Gods, wouldn't that be something. Meeting a love-partner for the first time by battling with her. Even better than fighting her at their first meeting would be battling alongside her, though. Maybe she ought to sign up for randomised doubles. Hard to imagine she'd have a better time doing that than fighting doubles with Starr, though.

Starr was still snickering at Brisa's face, and Brisa glowered back in mock-indignation.

"Well, I don't see you offerin' a better suggestion. Don't see you makin' a success of datin', either!" What was Starr's experience of courting? Brisa hadn't got much idea. "...What d'you look fer anyway, in, uh... guys? Gals?"

​

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out a snort. That was her best go at a comeback? It was almost cute.

"Hard to say," she replied with an indifferent shrug. "Being a Pokemon makes it kinda weird. Not in a bad way, just different--can't really go off what looked good in humans."

...Well, she could at least give Brisa something. "Don't have much preference between guys or girls--I go both ways."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa had barely been expecting an actual answer, so she listened carefully, nodding. Starr liked gals too? That was good. Why was it good?

Brisa blinked away the stray thought and met Starr's casually expectant face with a more even expression.

"I'd wondered about that, awhile back," she said, seriously. "Whether many humans on Cibus would even consider datin' a 'mon. Does that mean you've had more experience back home, with other humans?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr chuckled. "I mean yeah, not gonna lie, it's pretty weird. Wasn't exactly into Pokemon back home or anything. But I'm a Pokemon now, and Pokemon like Pokemon, so." She shrugged heavily. "Not gonna question it."

'Experience,' huh. Well, in a manner of speaking. "Anyway, it's not like I've ever dated anyone long-term," Starr went on, her tone casual. "Had a few casual things but none of 'em lasted long." Just a few. "Mostly a bunch of shitheads from work." Mostly as an excuse to feel in control of things.

...Yeah, that was getting filed back in the corner of things to ignore.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

For a moment, Brisa remembered the isolation and aversion to such bonds Bone had described, before she'd come to terms with being a pokémon. Jesse, Thyme... It seemed so common for humans to have difficulty adjusting to the idea of love-partnership with 'mon. What was the relationship between humans and 'mon like in the worlds shared by both?

Starr was practically brushing off that difficulty, although it didn't sound like she'd actually had any trysts on Cibus. Maybe it was a matter of time. Maybe she wouldn't be on Cibus long enough for that to happen. Regardless, that casual confidence was pretty fantastic. It was . . . a shame, that it hadn't won her any worthwhile partners.

"That, uh, sounds rough," offered Brisa. "Sorry y'never had better'n that. I can figure enough of the context t'know not to pry, but all the same... I dunno, I just hope you wind up findin' someone who appreciates you as much as they oughta."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gave Brisa a sideways glance and saw the look of sympathy on her face. "It's not a big deal. I got used to it what with being on the run back home." Skipping town every week or so wasn't exactly conducive to having a dating life. "And then getting dragged into the whole mission here and everything. Maybe if things ever calm down when I'm back home, I can worry about that kind of stuff." Knowing her luck, the idea of things calming down ever was a tall order.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded, pawing the back of her head self-consciously. "Yeah, even after months on Cibus, things have mever been calm enough fer folks to get a real handle on stable relationships, it sure seems. I couldn't help but get my hopes up about a gal or two, but..."

She looked away, muzzle askew with frustration. Thinking about how long they'd had already made her wonder how long they had left. Diyem promised enough time to make goodbyes...

"Well, Cibus is an opportunity fer me to be happy with someone even if just fer a while, better'n I'd ever get back home. Diyem claims he won't rush us all home when the job's over, so... maybe there's time yet." She chuckled awkwardly. "It's already been so much longer than I ever expected."

And I'm grateful fer that.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr chuckled slightly. "You can say that again. In some ways it feels like we just got here--other ways, it's like we've been here forever." Being a Pokemon actually felt natural now. Thank god she at least had a form somewhat close to human--the last thing she needed was forgetting how to do things the normal way. "Next thing I know, we've been here for over six months and now it's almost spring, and--" She paused, contemplating. "I guess it's probably around my birthday, huh. There's a weird thought."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's brows went up with surprise. "Huh. Y'know, I think I realised after a couple weeks here that the calendar was different an' gave up keepin' track. I oughta figure out how long 'til I hit twenty-one. So, uh... how old are you turnin', partner?"

Brisa had fuck-all experience buying or making gifts. Goddamn. She needed to think of something to get Starr...

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr had to bite back the usual snide response to that question. It had been a while since she'd had to deal with people trying to give her shit for her age.

"I'm turning nineteen. And yeah, I haven't really figured out the calendar either, but it was summer when I left, and it's spring now, and... feels about the right amount of time." Another year closer to leaving her teens behind. Good riddance.

Now that she'd realized, a part of her definitely wanted to do something for it--she deserved to feel good on her birthday, dammit. But no one else on the team had done any birthday shit, unless you counted that one Vulpix shade hurling cake at anyone who breathed. Well... she could go for some cake at least.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa rested her head on one paw, and thought about that for a second. Starr couldn't be used to having any kind of celebration for an occasion like this, given her past. Neither had Brisa, given her own. And Cibus was nothing if not extraordinary in its hospitality...

"If you could do anythin' fer yer birthday," said Brisa, slowly, "...what would you wanna do?"

Seeing Starr's expression change, she quickly added, "I ain't talkin' hypothetically. You ought to have a genuinely good fuckin' time fer once."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's ears flicked toward Brisa, before she'd even fully processed her words. Then her face slowly broke into a grin. "Well shit, if you're offering, I'm not gonna turn it down."

She leaned back in her seat, pondering. "Could really go for some cake right about now. And after that..." Sure, going on a shopping trip would be fun, but moreso than that, what she really wanted for the two of them to be able to fucking relax. "...not gonna lie, wouldn't mind hitting the spa."