Spinda Cafe

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa stood stock-still, waiting. It wouldn't change anything. Get it over with.

Just please don't look at my face.

 

[NebulaDreams]

Curio took a deep breath. She almost looked at Brisa, only to see she still had her head turned away. Oh god, what she said really must've struck a nerve in her. It was too late, she had already said her piece. Curio almost gave up until she remembered Diyem’s talk with her the day before, from what she remembered before she got drunk anyway.

“I still think of you as my friend, Brisa, y’know. This hasn’t changed that. I just need more time by myself for a bit. But I don’t want you to go away hating yourself for this.” She thought back to her home world. “Everyone fucks up some stuff. My friend did back home. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t too.”

Curio left it at that. She didn’t know how Brisa would react to her secrets.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Gods, if only she could fucking believe that. She really, really wanted to believe that. She just didn't know if she could. Or if she'd lose her shit in public if she thought about it too hard.

Fuck, she just needed to be gone. And drunk. Drunk and away from Curio.

"Sure. See you round, then."

She somehow managed to force out her reply without choking. Good for her. Fuck this.

Brisa went to pick up her whiskey at the bar, and downed it as soon as looked at it. She didn't much notice the taste, or the burn. She wondered vaguely if her shinx body had the same alcohol tolerance her old body did. Not that it mattered much if she wasn't trying to drink responsibly.

"I'll have the bottle, please," she told the bartender.

On her way out, she did her best not to look at Curio. It wouldn't help. She knew it wouldn't.

But she couldn't help doing so anyway.

'Seeya round.' Yeah. Maybe.

 

[Chibi Pika]

<><><><><><>​

Starr hadn't yet gotten a chance to check out the cafe, but she'd heard her teammates buzzing about it recently and figured now was as good a time as any. She descended the steps down into the underground establishment and was just browsing the board that listed their offerings when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

It was Curio. Sitting alone, and looking absolutely fucking miserable.

Starr bit her tongue. She'd heard vague talk that Curio had been carted out of here, totally plastered yesterday. So the fact that she was back here again a second day... sure was something.

...It really wasn't any of her business. She really didn't know Curio all that well. Still, there was a nagging in the back of her head that told her she'd regret not saying anything. Finally, she gave in and walked over.

"Hey. Somethin' up? You look like shit."

 

[NebulaDreams]

Well, fuck. Curio didn't expect much else than a curt response, which was better than her running away or lashing out at her, but it still left a pit in Curio's stomach, something that could only be filled with more booze. Curio just wanted to waste away the hours there until she didn't have to think about anything else, but she didn't want to get fully drunk like last time either, not yet anyway. So she only took tiny sips of her glass of interdimensional wine and occasionally observed her surroundings.

Damn. If she had her aura powers back, she could've gotten into Brisa's head a lot easier. Perhaps it was for the best that she didn't.

She must've spent a few hours there, because by the time a certain someone had arrived, it must've been approaching the evening. And that certain someone was Starr.

Curio still wasn't on 100% good terms with her, but she was fun enough to talk to once she pulled the stick out of her ass and started setting it on fire with some curry. She needed someone else to talk to, though.

"Hey. Somethin' up? You look like shit."

"I'll say." Curio gave a wan smile. "So what're you doing here?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr shrugged. "Just hangin' out. Did my training for the day, figured I'd unwind." She sat down in the seat across from Curio, because it wasn't like Curio had told her not to. There was a moment's pause, and then she said, "So is it the kind of thing that'd be helped by talking, or by punching a wall?"

 

[NebulaDreams]

"So is it the kind of thing that'd be helped by talking, or by punching a wall?"

"Who knows, who cares?" She took a sip of her glass, barely restraining herself from chugging the whole thing down. "Both, maybe. What's it to you?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Ah. So that's how she was gonna be. Not that much different than Starr herself. Was this how Ajia felt all those times dragging Starr out of the self-resigned pit of misery? Most likely. Time to deal with it from the other side. Fun fun.

"I dunno. Suppose it's none of my business," Starr said casually, leaning back and letting her gaze wander across the room. "Sucks to drink alone though--figured I could spare you that much."

 

[NebulaDreams]

"I dunno. Suppose it's none of my business," Starr said casually, leaning back and letting her gaze wander across the room. "Sucks to drink alone though--figured I could spare you that much."

"You got me there. So, what's your poison? Oh, and have you ever had a bona fide Pokemon as a drinking buddy?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Ah, shit. She wasn't really thinking about the fact that saying that would mean joining in. Like hell was she gonna let herself have lowered inhibitions in a place like this.

Starr rubbed an ear. "Been a while since I had any. But with Pokemon, sure. Feraligatr could practically guzzle a whole barrel. I don't think it actually did all that much to her, but eh, she got a kick out doing it," she added with a chuckle.

Would've been nice if Feraligatr was here. Would've been nice getting to talk to her, for real.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Ha, nice!" Curio actually cracked a smile at that one, and one that wasn't so sad. "Wish I could do that; I'd just chunder it all back out if I had that much. But... Feraligatr, isn't that just the species name, or is that literally what she's called?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

A smile. An actual smile, holy shit, it was possible.

"Eh, kinda. I dunno what the culture's like where you're from, but where I'm from, a lot of Pokemon don't really bother with names when they're with a human. Species name works well enough when there's only one of 'em on a team." ...Shit, was that offensive? That's just how it was back home, but all the Pokemon here had names, and probably would find it weird as hell.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Eh, kinda. I dunno what the culture's like where you're from, but where I'm from, a lot of Pokemon don't really bother with names when they're with a human. Species name works well enough when there's only one of 'em on a team."

"Huh..." Curio took another sip. "I mean, if they're fine with not having any names, then it's no biggie. When I was a lil' Riolu back in the wild, names weren't that important, not even in our family. We'd know who was who by the tone of their voice. But when I entered the human world, so to speak, names just felt more important to me. Like it was a part of carving out my own path as my own Pokemon. If you were just called 'human' that would feel weird and kinda depersonalising, ironically enough." She chuckled. "Sorry, tell me if I need to cut down on all this pretentious crap."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Huh..." Curio took another sip. "I mean, if they're fine with not having any names, then it's no biggie. When I was a lil' Riolu back in the wild, names weren't that important, not even in our family. We'd know who was who by the tone of their voice. But when I entered the human world, so to speak, names just felt more important to me. Like it was a part of carving out my own path as my own Pokemon. If you were just called 'human' that would feel weird and kinda depersonalising, ironically enough."

Starr snorted. "Got me there. I'm not gonna pretend like I understood it, it's just what they always taught us." (...They were fine with it, right? They hadn't complained.)

"Sorry, tell me if I need to cut down on all this pretentious crap."

Starr shrugged. "It's whatever. Seems like it's doing you some good, anyway." She paused for a bit, thinking. "So your world's got humans, huh. Seems like most Pokemon here had never seen one. One that wasn't transformed, that is."

 

[NebulaDreams]

"It's whatever. Seems like it's doing you some good, anyway." She paused for a bit, thinking. "So your world's got humans, huh. Seems like most of Pokemon here had never seen one. One that wasn't transformed, that is."

Wait, that was a compliment. Nice. Curio didn't have long to bask in that bit of ego stroking before Starr asked her another question. "Yeah, I dunno what's up with that. On the one hand, it makes it a bit of a mind field to talk about human shit when not many people even know what you're yammering on about. On the other hand, it's kind of freeing when everyone else is a Pokemon, even the humans, so you don't have to worry about being othered for not being a human, or vice versa."

She took two sips that time, almost emptying the glass. "Though it makes me wonder whether humans actually existed here at some point and then just vanished, or if they never even existed and are basically myths in this world. By the sounds of it, there are a lot of interdimensional shenanigans with humans-turned-Pokemon though."

Curio winced at what she was about to say. Sorry, Brisa. "Brisa's dad was one of 'em."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Yeah, I dunno what's up with that. On the one hand, it makes it a bit of a mind field to talk about human shit when not many people even know what you're yammering on about. On the other hand, it's kind of freeing when everyone else is a Pokemon, even the humans, so you don't have to worry about being othered for not being a human, or vice versa."

"Yeah, I suppose it's probably nice not having to deal with humans fucking things up all the time," Starr said with a wry grin. "And, well, there's some things I miss, but I guess it's not half bad being a Pokemon. Kinda like a clean start, in a way."

"Though it makes me wonder whether humans actually existed here at some point and then just vanished, or if they never even existed and are basically myths in this world. By the sounds of it, there are a lot of interdimensional shenanigans with humans-turned-Pokemon though."

Curio winced at what she was about to say. Sorry, Brisa. "Brisa's dad was one of 'em."

Starr blinked. Brisa was part human? Huh. Apparently that was something that was considered a big deal here, but other than that, she didn't really know what to make of that information. She barely knew anything at all about Brisa. (Other than the fact that the Shinx hated her guts. She was used to being hated, so that wouldn't have bothered her if not for... what she'd said...)

Ugh. Starr didn't really want to think about that right now. She scrambled for some way to lighten the mood and then smirked. "Speaking of, where is your girlfriend anyway?"

 

[NebulaDreams]

Ugh. Starr didn't really want to think about that right now. She scrambled for some way to lighten the mood and then smirked. "Speaking of, where is your girlfriend anyway?"

"Smoking a cig in bed." Curio snickered, but couldn't keep up the enthusiasm. She sighed and finished off her drink. "No, smartass. She went drinking on her own after we had a bit of a falling out. You can probably guess why I'm knocking these back. Dunno why. I'm still coming down from the last drinking sesh."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Ah, fuck. Of course. She should've realized. It'd only been like what, two weeks? Figures they'd set themselves up to crash and burn. Well... at least Curio could still laugh about it. That was something.

"Yeah, if it's got you hammered two days in a row, I think I can guess why," Starr replied, putting an elbow on the table. "So let's hear it. What happened to mess you two up?"

 

[NebulaDreams]

"So let's hear it. What happened to mess you two up?"

Shit, she was afraid of this part, just like she dreaded telling Brisa what happened. Curio ordered another drink to help her get through it.

"So, we got those radiance powers, just like everyone else, I reckon, and Brisa got a bit drunk off of it, so she wanted to fight. I agreed, I dunno why, though I kind of had some fighting spirit in me too, but the stage was set at the dojo. Her power was trapping people in glowing bars, so she trapped me in 'em. It was fun in the moment, and then..."

Curio glugged half the glass' contents down. "And then... she... shocked me. Fuck." Ah, who was she kidding? She gulped the rest down. "It was the perfect cocktail of piss and shit for it to dredge up some awful, awful memories." She shivered just thinking about it. "I don't wanna talk about that. Then she fainted, I fucked off for a day, apparently sleepwalking the whole time or something, met her after about two, three days of silence, and told her what happened. She didn't take that very well."

Curio was swaying already from the alcohol, but through sheer force of will, she pulled herself together. "I told her as much that she couldn't have known it would do that to me. That, and she got carried away in the heat of the moment and the joy of it all."

She scratched her head, trying to find something else to say. "Say, are the Pokemon back in your world just as battle hungry as we are? And do you share that hunger as well?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Curio glugged half the glass' contents down. "And then... she... shocked me. Fuck." Ah, who was she kidding? She gulped the rest down. "It was the perfect cocktail of piss and shit for it to dredge up some awful, awful memories."

Starr went rigid with a thousand-mile stare. It was just for a moment. Then she blinked and fixed her eyes on Curio, the joking atmosphere totally dead. "Jesus, what the actual fuck."

Curio was swaying already from the alcohol, but through sheer force of will, she pulled herself together. "I told her as much that she couldn't have known it would do that to me. That, and she got carried away in the heat of the moment and the joy of it all."

Oh. It was... an accident. Of course it was an accident. No one would fucking do something like that on purpose.

She scratched her head, trying to find something else to say. "Say, are the Pokemon back in your world just as battle hungry as we are? And do you share that hunger as well?"

Starr gripped the table so hard her claws dug into it slightly. "I guess kinda, yeah. It varies just like anything else. I've felt it. Probably hasn't hit me as hard since, y'know... it's new, so it didn't really shape who I am or anything."

Starr was silent for a few seconds. Then, hating every word, she said, "Sounds like it was an accident. She's probably fucking miserable too."