Spinda Cafe

[NebulaDreams]

Starr coughed hard and had to stop herself from almost choking. "I'm sorry, did you say Mewtwo?!"

"Yeah, I did. I don't think it's a Mewtwo from this world. He was from another world with humans in it, and somehow he ended up here. He goes by Karat, by the way." She drew in a quick breath. "Mewtwo doesn't exist in my world since there was no DNA experimentation and shit. I only ever saw him in stuff like Melee."

Starr blinked, taken aback. Curio wouldn't have forgiven her... for letting Brisa off her? For a moment, she dared to let herself believe that, but then... no. No, obviously she thought that it had gone the other way around--that Brisa had asked Starr for an out.

"Wasn't ever any question of that," she said in a low voice, her mouth dry. She proceeded to chug some coffee and burned her mouth. Dammit.

"Yeah, good." A pang of guilt nestled in Curio's stomach. She felt like she struck a nerve there, or that she misread the situation somehow, but it was too late to take it back now. "Well, I wouldn't want anyone mercy killing anyone, so if you did it to Starr too, I'd feel just as bad."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa blanched as Curio completely misunderstood what she'd said. She could read the evident discomfort in Starr's face and felt an inexplicable urge to speak up for her.

"Curio..." she said, quietly. "I was the one offerin' a way out. Starr shut me down; she was stronger than I was, in there."

She tried to look Starr in the eye. "I'm glad that you turned me down. And for... everythin' else."

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Curio..." she said, quietly. "I was the one offerin' a way out. Starr shut me down; she was stronger than I was, in there."

"Oh," Curio whispered. Well, shit, that was a hard thing to take back. What an idiot. "Sorry 'bout that, you two. Still, I'm glad the both of you are back here." She dug into her meat skewer, trying to sate either the hunger or the guilt in her gut.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Curio..." she said, quietly. "I was the one offerin' a way out. Starr shut me down; she was stronger than I was, in there."

She tried to look Starr in the eye. "I'm glad that you turned me down. And for... everythin' else."

Starr tensed imperceptibly. Dammit. Why'd Brisa have to go and say that, she didn't need to say that, ugh.

At least... maybe it did mean that things weren't the same as they had been before.

"Thanks," she mumbled, not really making eye contact.

"Oh," Curio whispered. "Sorry 'bout that, you two. Still, I'm glad the both of you are back here."

Starr let out a huge sigh. "Same. God, it's good to be back after being in that hellhole for... how the hell many days were we in there, anyway? How much did we miss?" She grabbed her badge from her bag but it was dead. "Crap. Gotta charge my phone."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I still haven't learnt how to use mine," admitted Brisa, a little sheepish. "My guess is three days. You wanna tell me I'm right, Curio?"

 

[NebulaDreams]

“Yup, exactomundo.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nibbled on something vaguely meaty and tender, and wondered what to say. She wasn't used to group conversations under the best of circumstances, and now all three of them were feeling awkward because of something she'd said out of discomfort. Part of her wanted to suggest a battle, but...

What if you ended up killing me, or someone else?

I didn't want any of this! You did! You wanted this!

No.

She couldn't suggest a battle.

Did Curio even know what Brisa and Starr had done to each other in their fight? From where she was sitting, Brisa could see the table where she'd said goodbye to Curio that awful day, and in her mind's eye she could see the dojo, the cave, the hill outside Jesse's cabin. Why did she always... get things wrong?

I'm really glad you're here with me. I want to be your friend. Help me.

"Who are ya lookin' forward to seein' again, Starr?" she asked at last. "I bet you're sick of seein' my sorry muzzle by now."

Jokes! She had jokes. Surely that would help.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Who are ya lookin' forward to seein' again, Starr?" she asked at last. "I bet you're sick of seein' my sorry muzzle by now."

Starr paused to consider it. She didn't know most of the team that well, but... "Owen and Cabot for sure. Wanna check up on Cuicatl too--we hung out before the last mission." She decided to leave out the part where Cuicatl had been pretty down the whole time, and couldn't help feeling a twinge of worry.

"How about you?" Maybe a bad question since Brisa was talking like she had no friends earlier, even though that was obviously wrong.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Ah, gods, I guess... assumin' they'd be pleased to see me, I'm lookin' forward to seein' those guys too. Haven't had the pleasure of Cuicatl's company yet though."

She sighed.

"Honestly, though? I don't think I can relax until I've talked to Astrid. I've been avoidin' her outta shame since our fight, cause I know she won't think too highly of me for it, and now I feel like avoidin' her was the more shameful thing."

Brisa wasn't craven. She knew she wasn't. But she ran from hard social calls, apparently, and it wasn't sitting well with her.

"I really want Astrid to like me," she mumbled, feeling stupid and selfish and slightly flustered.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr glanced away awkwardly. "Does she, uh... does she even know about the fight? I wasn't exactly in a hurry to go telling anyone." Seemed kinda weird that Astrid should give a shit about something that had nothing to do with her. Why couldn't she just mind her own business.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Waith, whath figthhhh?" Curio said, not even pretending to swallow all of her food before she spoke.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa tensed up so hard she thought she might splinter the cafe table in her grip. In her old body, she might have done. Stupid, stupid, mentioning the fight.

"A couple days before the Lugia fight, I challenged Starr at the dojo," she said, her voice as steady as she could manage. "I got carried away. Again. I'm not lookin' forward to telling Astrid that my efforts to put things right with folks are goin' so poorly. I'm dead afeared that she'll be disappointed in me."

Brisa sighed, and loosened her grip on the table.

"She said somethin' to me. She said she thought I'd keep tryin' to fix things. Gods know I want to, I just... I just don't know how. Guess I've only ever been good at breakin' things. But..."

Goddamn. Was it too early in the day to order a whiskey? Fuck, keep going anyway.

"But if you gals will give me the chance, I'd care to make up for my mistakes."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"A couple days before the Lugia fight, I challenged Starr at the dojo," she said, her voice as steady as she could manage. "I got carried away. Again. I'm not lookin' forward to telling Astrid that my efforts to put things right with folks are goin' so poorly. I'm dead afeared that she'll be disappointed in me."

Brisa's tension was practically tangible, even across the table. Starr put on her best casual tone and replied, "Yeah, but... that was between the two of us, and it's..." (Settled? Done? Was it?) "...not really relevant to the way things are now." (How were things now?) "I don't see why anyone oughta judge you for shit like that when it doesn't concern them."

 

[NebulaDreams]

"A couple days before the Lugia fight, I challenged Starr at the dojo," she said, her voice as steady as she could manage. "I got carried away. Again. I'm not lookin' forward to telling Astrid that my efforts to put things right with folks are goin' so poorly. I'm dead afeared that she'll be disappointed in me."

Curio swallowed the rest of the kebab before she replied. "Oh, so you two did fight before you got sucked into the Reverse World. That makes a lot more sense now. I don't know what you two were squabblin' about, since I guess that's why you seem so awkward, but it's not like infighting is anything new here. I should know." She winked at Starr. "But I don't think you can expect to fix everythin' at once."

"But if you gals will give me the chance, I'd care to make up for my mistakes."

Curio took a deep breath. "C'mon, you doof, you know I forgive you already."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa went silent again, staring at the wood grain of the table.

How could you even fuckin' forgive somethin' like that?

Curio... forgave her? Curio expected her to assume as much, even. Had Brisa been agonising over nothing this whole time, or... maybe Curio only said that out of some kind of pity, after she'd been trapped in that pit for so long? No, surely it had been as serious as she remembered. She'd felt unforgivable. But that was how she had felt. What had Curio felt, really? What had she actually said?

I don’t want you to go away hating yourself for this. Everyone fucks up some stuff. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t too.

That was exactly what she'd done. She'd gone away hating herself. It was more complicated than just what she'd done, of course, but Curio couldn't have known why she'd felt so guilty. Even after Brisa had explained to Starr how she was scared she'd keep hurting people, Starr had found it strange how torn up she was.

Obviously it matters. But you didn't want to hurt anyone, so I still don't think it was unforgivable. [...] I think she's just... gotta sort some things out for herself first. That's all.

Maybe Starr was... right. Brisa had to admit, she'd been right about pretty much everything so far. She always sounded wrong, but... maybe Curio really did just need time. And she'd had time. But Brisa hadn't had a chance to show she'd changed, if she even could change. She hadn't had a chance to do something for Curio, to make it up to her, to show how sorry she was.

I have a funny feeling you won’t stop trying to fix things even now.

She'd thought that was how this could change. If she 'fixed things'. She'd done nothing of the sort, but maybe she'd just been wrong about what 'fixing things' meant. Maybe fixing things just meant accepting Curio's forgiveness now, instead of turning tail like she'd done with Astrid, with Starr, wth Cathy...

And she could do that.

"Yeah," she said at last, "I guess I am some kinda 'doof.'"

She smiled at the riolu and tried to hold eye contact without getting flustered. "Thanks, Curio."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Man, Brisa had really short-circuited at Curio having forgiven her, even though it was pretty dang obvious that she would. Then again, it... did make sense what with all that... stuff that Brisa had said while they were trapped in the cave. Good to have it resolved, though. Even if there was still a bit of tension hanging in the air.

...Starr never was much a fan of tension.

"So when are you two gonna kiss already?" she said with a smirk.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Kiss?"

What was Starr talking about? That was one hell of a non sequitur. Was she talking about Brisa and Curio-

...kissing.

...what?

"When are we- wait, what, uh-"

Brisa's tail lashed itself into a fury and her ears pinned back flat against her head as her brain rapidly shut down.

She wasn't trying to kiss Curio! Nobody should think that! Why would she be? In fact:

"I ain't never kissed a gal before!" she blurted out, before hiding her face of unmitigated mortification in her paws and praying for escape from this situation. Even the cave was better than this.

Your Brisa has encountered an error and must shut down.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Pucker up, Brisa," Curio said in a joking tone.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr had to stop herself from breaking down with hysterical laughter. She'd had the suspicion that Brisa couldn't take a joke but this was better than anything she could have imagined. She never got the chance to tease anyone about this back home, and dammit if she wasn't gonna take full advantage.

"'Ain't never' huh? First time for everything," Starr commented, smirking even wider than before.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's mind was going completely blank. What was the etiquette for this? She was way off-map. She didn't dare look at her friends' faces for fear of what their expressions might be. A tiny part of her wondered if she'd actually get a kiss if she went for it, but almost all of her was desperate for her first kiss to be anything but this.

"Maybe someday!" she squeaked, hiding her face as best she could. Thank the gods for her massive oversized shinx paws.