Rocky Road ~ House of Starr and Nate

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gaped at him in disbelief. Jesus, was he always such a drama queen or was this just a special occasion?

"Look, if you wanna turn this into a big production, be my guest," Starr said, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly even though he wasn't facing her and couldn't see it. "Don't have to act like I kicked your dog just for asking a fucking question. God."

If he wanted to storm out like a five-year-old, then that was on him. She wasn't trying to stop him. She wasn't trying to make anyone do anything.

 

[Negrek]

"Right, like I'm the one making this fucking weird!" Nate yelled over his shoulder. He wasn't about to stick around and continue the argument, though. Fuck this. He slammed out of the house and stormed off into the street, fuming. Well, whatever. Whatever. He had been insane to even consider inviting another person into the house. He'd been insane to even consider living with anyone else at all. If that bastard haxorus hadn't come back from vacation and threatened to knock the whole shed down if he and Rocky didn't leave...

Not that it really mattered. Long before he even would have reached the Guild his vision cut out, replaced by some kind of projection of space, Cibus below and the moon, massive and close, hanging just above. Soon Nate would forget about Silver completely.

<><><>​

 

[Negrek]

It was kind of weird, just walking down the street and ending up back home. Half an hour ago Nate had been in nightmare hell watching the mewtwo drift around menacingly, and now he was on the couch with a beer and the TV remote, Rocky curled up at the far end and complaining about the channel selection. "Not more battles," the familiar said. "Guild Warriors is on now. We should watch that instead!"

"Watch it on your fucking badge if you're that into it," Nate said. "Come on, they're airing one of S'more's fights from way back. You can't tell me you don't want to see that."

Rocky stretched out languidly, making some halfhearted protest or other, but Nate was right. The familiar couldn't keep the interest from his glowing eyes as he stared at the screen--Guild Whatevers probably had some wild fantasy shit going on, but Rocky couldn't resist the draw of legends fighting for real, even after how much of it they'd done. Even today, kind of.

The house was quiet, as usual. Starr had barely been around since the whole Voidlands thing with Maple, which... wasn't good, but also wasn't anything to do with Nate. Not like he could do nothing about it, since who knew where she fucking was, which was the entire point.

Silver might be off in the other room, or he might not. He usually kept himself to himself. Nate raised himself off the couch slightly, peering at the doorway. Maybe some of his team were around? He might be able to lure a couple of them into joining. Nate turned the idea over in his mind, lazily contemplating. Was it worth getting up to check for them...?

 

[Chibi Pika]

What a day. Starr sure hadn't planned on spending an extra hour in the training rooms, but Brisa really wanted to perfect that new strategy for when they'd be fighting Team Spice, and Starr wasn't in the mood to protest. Distractions were good in general these days.

She really hadn't been spending much time at home lately. Mostly just for sleeping, and that was about it (and that was only the times that she hadn't just opted to steal the couch at Brisa's place.) Starr pushed open the front door and immediately heard voices in the living room. Nate and Rocky were home, watching TV. She waved vaguely without saying anything before heading into the kitchen. Grabbing something to drink and then passing out for a few hours before dinner seemed like a solid way to burn the day.

Silver wasn't around. There was a part of Starr that wanted to see him, wanted to say something to him. And a part of her that was fine with never acknowledging his existence again.

 

[Namohysip]

Thanks to their long lifespans, Legends had a tendency to change slowly over time, both in personality and appearance. S'more looked hardly different in the recordings, even if the video quality left much to be desired.

It depicted S'more battling against someone that they wouldn't recognize--presumably an old member of the Guild, or some other hero. S'more weaved between blows with a deftness that seemed to trick the video recording itself, and a moment later, the foe had been hit from three sides at once, collapsing mid-step. S'more then gestured to two others on the opposing side to come at him next; they both seemed hesitant.

When the fridge opened, Starr would find that it was occupied by Silver's slumbering Weavile. There was also a jug of grape juice that hadn't been there before which, after a short while, wobbled and swirled. A Gengar's eye stared at Starr from within.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr stared back, her face deadpan. "Cute," she said flatly before nudging the 'grape juice' to the side. They better not have drank all the good stuff. The lemonade was gone, god dammit. At least there was still half a carton of Cherri juice left. Then again, almost anything sounded good after a workout. She grabbed the carton, downed half the remainder in a single gulp, and then went to close the door before pausing.

"You, uh... you good to just chill in here?" she said to the two. Okay, mostly to Weavile--Gengar could just phase out.

 

[Namohysip]

Weavile made a purring sound and rolled deeper into the fridge. Gengar was starting to form a smile near the bottom of the jug.

The ground trembled moments later. "Hey! Get back here!"

Frantic buzzing of Magnezone followed, and then the shout of Typhlosion. Glimpses of the scene, thanks to the windows, revealed that Crobat had gotten caught on Magnezone's antenna, and his wings were flapping about on Magnezone's eyes, doubling the panic mutually. Typhlosion was chasing them both down while Alakazam watched from a nearby rooftop with mild amusement. Silver, meanwhile, was trying to Teleport to them, overshooting it each time.

 

[Negrek]

Nate started at the sound of the door, but it was only Starr. Right. Yeah. Think of the devil. He settled back against the couch again, taking another sip of beer.

Rocky was staring at him.

"What?" Nate asked. The familiar gave him a critical look. "Oh, come on. She don't exactly want to chat, does she?" Nate said. "You go talk to her if you're so keen on it."

It was hard to concentrate on the match with Rocky fucking watching him like that. Nate sat in determined silence for a couple minutes, glaring at the screen, before sighing and tossing the remote aside. "Okay, fine. You fucking win. I'll--"

The ground shook. Nate froze, then scrambled towards the front window. Oh, it was just--what the fuck were they doing out there? Nate smiled to himself and opened the door. "Hey. You need a bit of help out here?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out a snort of mild amusement. "Looks like they're having fun." She glanced back inside the fridge. Yeah, Weavile didn't look like they were moving anytime soon. She shrugged and shut the door.

After guzzling the rest of the Cheri juice and tossing the carton in the trash, Starr turned and headed for the bedroom. "Gonna crash for a while," she said to no one in particular.

 

[Namohysip]

After a lucky blink, Silver appeared in front of Crobat and yanked him off, which was finally enough to calm them all down. With a sigh, he held Crobat in front of him and gave a lecture, then tossed him in the air to regain his air.

"Geez. I know you guys were looking for a fight, but this is too much..." He groaned, then rubbed his forehead. The Mewtwo forgot to float and plummeted to the ground, landing roughly on his feet. Ever since he'd fully regained his memories as 'Silver,' some of his 'Giovanni' memories had become muddled and dreamlike. That included the practice as a Mewtwo.

He, too, retired into the home. "Thanks, but I got it," he mumbled. "These guys are getting antsy. Maybe I'll set them up for a Colosseum fight or something. They're nowhere near your level, but maybe I can direct them to take on someone like, I dunno, one of the lower Legends. They can probably handle that."

By chance, he'd glanced at Starr in the bedroom down the hall. Silver's expression twitched to an awkward frown and he glanced away again.

 

[Negrek]

Rocky had been following along behind Nate, all the commotion being much more interesting than the TV. He caught Silver's awkward glance at Starr and grinned to himself. "A colosseum fight, huh? That sounds like a great idea! I bet Starr could help you figure out somebody good for them to fight. She knows all about the colosseum. Right, Starr?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr paused. She was halfway out of the room and dead tired. Part of her was tempted to just give a one-word answer and leave.

But, against her better judgement, she turned around and replied, "Uh... yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm not usually the one who books the matches--that's Brisa--but I've seen enough matches. Maybe one of the in-training legends like, whats the Ho-oh kid's name... Brulée?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Never thought of that," Silver remarked. "Sure. I'll think that one over." He stepped to the fridge, opening it. He reached for what looked like some of his leftovers and didn't even flinch at Weavile or Gengar inside, then closed it without a second thought. He passed the hefty bag to Typhlosion, who balanced it on his back for warming.

Silver cleared his throat. "You, uh. Look like you just went through the Elite Four twice."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr glanced at Silver when he addressed her. There was still a part of her that instinctively tried to see the Mewtwo as Giovanni. But no... his expression, his mannerisms, everything was totally different. In a weird way, there were moments where she saw something that vaguely reminded her of herself, almost. God, alternate universe bullshit was weird.

"It's just training. Didn't do any matches today," Starr replied stiffly. Yeah, she hadn't really been giving much of a shit about appearances lately. Part of her wanted to, but the rest of her couldn't find the energy to care. "I guess the Zekrom fight was yesterday, so I'm still a bit beat from that." It was yesterday, right? All the days lately had been running together.

 

[Negrek]

"Yeah. You've, uh, been going pretty hard at the training recently, ain't you?" Nate asked. "Makes sense, with what we got coming. But you don't want to wear yourself out too much before the whole Eien thing, right?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Ugh, she was starting to look like some kind of a workaholic, wasn't she.

"It's fine," Starr said glancing away and rubbing the back of her head. "I was needing to work on defensive moves anyway. Can't afford to leave myself open on missions."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, hey. Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense. You've got others on the team that cover the defenses, I guess. Like that ice Ninetales. The one that doesn't explode." Silver pulled the food off of Typhlosion and opened the now steaming bag, setting it on the table to eat with his team. Silver always came off as a little rude and curt, but as of late, he'd been more docile. Perhaps he was trying to make up for his behavior as 'Giovanni.' And, that aside, little things like the unconscious gestures toward his team spoke to the fact that he at least cared.

Alakazam appeared seconds after the food was set down, sitting across from Silver and taking the first bite.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr nodded distantly. "Yeah. They do a good job at that." She'd been reckless, though. Rushed in without anyone else having her back, and... why? Fucking blacklight.

Silver and the team had sat down to eat. The house sure was busy. Trying to get any sleep right about now was probably a lost cause, and would most likely just put her in a bad mood.

...Fuck it. Starr went back to the kitchen and grabbed a coffee from the back of the fridge. She was gonna need it.

"Must be something to have your team here in Cibus with you," Starr said, popping the tab on the carton and taking a long swig.

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm. I guess it gives some peace of mind that I know where they are. But for a while... guess they could've been better off back home. They could've..." He shook his head. "No. They're stronger than that."

His gaze trailed to Typhlosion, who tilted his head at Silver. He growled inquitively and Silver scratched under Typhlosion's chin. He growled again, leaning into it.

"What's your team like?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr looked back at Silver and felt a small twinge at seeing him and Typhlosion like that.

"My starter was Feraligatr. She's a hardass." There was still a small part of her that was oddly surprised to learn that he'd picked Typhlosion. Almost like she'd expected him to be partnered with a Feraligatr as well. "As for the rest... Raichu's a goofball, Arcanine's a grumpy bitch, Rapidash is full of himself, Gyarados is pretty chill, and Flareon's an idiot but he's a lovable idiot."

Hadn't Silver... been a Flareon at one point? Before evolving into a Mewtwo. What the hell.