bottlecaplogs | November Catch-all

[ Following Parvati to the construction site, only to wind up at the base of the Canopy, felt like a cruel joke. Not that she could have possibly ever known, but the higher up they go, the more obvious it becomes: he and heights do not mix well.

He could have turned around at any point, if he really wanted to, but after the disaster that unfolded at the clinic, there are stakes now in finishing this quest specifically. As if he wants to give that brat any more ammunition for not following through. He'll show him supporting a cause.

And, they really do need roofs before winter around here. That’s also important. ]

Parvati, how much longer—

[ He’s watching her organize some of the materials before a heavy breeze rolls by, because of course it does. All he can focus on in that moment is the sound of wood creaking as the platform they’re on sways under their feet. He looks like he’s about to be sick. ]

Can we please get started already?

[ Bigby’s already in some sort of mood before he even reaches the designated spot in the forest. He had signed up with the goal of working off some steam, never mind who they had to pair him up with. As it just so happens, it’s one of the more recent newcomers. Not exactly his choice, but he'll take it anyway. Hopefully, whoever it is will be more likely to listen to someone with more experience in battling. ]

Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. [ His nose scrunches up. He can smell the Ghost-type on the other, which is a whole other pile of bad memories, but at least they’re helping the ghosts this time around. ] You are going to follow my lead, got it? I’m not here to mess around.

[ Easier said than done. ]

[ parvati's been casting worried looks in his direction as they've been climbing. honestly, her fault for not specifying which project of hers she actually needed hands for. she's honestly impressed she managed to convince herself to come back over here, too, considering flowey's been giving her nothing but shit since she arrived.

but the rest of the cheri berries getting roofs is way more important than whatever beef she may or may not have with a thirteen year old, and she's always preferred being the bigger person where possible. ]

Just a sec-- [ she's been unceremoniously dumping a few of her tools onto the floor from her box -- she's left her regular hammer back at perrin's place, no need for it. ] There. Sorry. Was worried I'd forgotten something.

[ she folds her arms across her chest, flinching at the gusts of wind. ] You'd think they'd left the airlock open or something, Law...

More like someone out there just wants to make a joke of me specifically.

[ The strong winds here have nothing to with his dad, but he's going to find a way to blame him for it anyway. ]

But it's— ... hn. [ The creaking is all he can think about. His ears are currently twitching frantically. ] It's fine. As long we don't have to go back down and up again.

[ Please don't say you forgot anything, Parvati. He's also unintentionally moving a little closer to her as he speaks, the nervous little thing that he is right now. ]

[ in kind, parvati's kind of been holding out her hand in his general direction. she's really not sure what else to do other than give him something to hold on to, at least for the time being. ] We won't. But, uh...

[ her face scrunches up a little. ] You sure you can handle doing... something? [ at least to focus on something else. she's not too phased by the height, the creaking, or the swaying. living on a spaceship and all. ] I mean, uh, you can also, um. Go. If you, want?

[ There's a moment of relief on his face before he glances down at her hand outstretched. It's almost tempting to grab, but— ] Didn't I just say it's fine?

[ His nose scrunches up in kind, arms folding as he abruptly looks away. Which Bigby immediately regrets, when he realizes he's staring right past the edge of the platform now. His ears completely fall flat when he glances back at her. ]

... I'm not going anywhere until we're done. Let's get this over with.

HEY BIGBY!! DON'T FALL OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[After sneaking up behind them both and shouting this as loud as possible, Flowey quickly hops away across branches before Bigby can kill him for real.]

[ parvati's face briefly twitches with disbelief, but she shakes it off. ] Well, yeah, but--

[ she abruptly jumps when flowey comes up behind them, squeaking. she's about to reprimand him when he scampers off. ] Ass.

[Well, Impmon continues to think he doesn't need backup for these quests and that having him team up with people to do them is a waste of time. ~~This is largely because Impmon is an idiot.~~ Still, at least it's something to do, something that actually feels helpful, so he's been sucking it up and tolerating the obligatory partners he's worked with. Most of them have annoyed him, but surely one of 'em has to be decent, right?

...Aaaand then he hears that. He recoils at the sudden abrasive attitude, but smothers his instinctive contrarian impulses.]

Alright, alright, no need to be a jerk about it.

[...apparently, he can't resist a little sass.]

So what's our plan, fearless leader?

[ His heart stops with a little squeak. Instinct does all the rest. Immediately, he drops, curling himself into a little ball until he realizes what just happened. ]

That little shit— [ He unfurls and jumps back on his feet, just to shout up at nothing in the trees. ] You're still on the menu, brat! Can't hide forever!

[ There's a gust of wind coming from him now as he yells. Kind of weird. ]

[ parvati just kind of. stares at him in the aftermath. ]

You're not okay, are you? [ well, that much had been obvious to her since they got here. that was quite the reaction. ] ..the offer to hold onto me is open?

[ her heart's not in that one, hesitation abundant in a squeak in her voice. ]

How many times — I'm fine, Parvati.

[ His voice is nearly a snarl, but after glancing at her direction again, his face falls a little flat. None of this is her fault. ]

... This place just makes me nervous, and that kid's been a real pain in my ass lately. [ He brushes back an ear before slowly moving over to wrap his arms around one of hers. ] Here. Better?

[ Asking as if he's not the one gripping onto her for moral support. ]

[ d'aww. parvati didn't really think this far ahead, though. this is a job that requires, well, multiple hands. she supposes she can manage. ] I mean, you don't gotta cling to me like that if you don't wanna. I used to hug my dad's leg like that as a kid.

[ she giggles at the memory, and then snorts when the comparison actually hits. ] Law. Sorry.

[ Bigby must look real cute looking up at her with those big eyes and rosy cheeks. Too bad he quickly ruins it with a scowl.

Actually, no. The pouting is still kind of cute. ]

Well, when you put it that way. [ He abruptly lets go to fold his arms instead, only to immediately look straight down at the platform floor instead of anywhere off it. ] As long as I'm not anywhere near the edge, we won't have any problems, okay?

I mean, we might if you spend all of your time looking at the floor. Can't build roofs like that, Bigby. Honestly, it'd be easier if you just held onto my arm, I could at least work that out.

[ she offers a shrug, and holds out a measuring stick to him. ] I'm not trying to be mean.

[ Unfortunately, Impmon's search for a decent quest partner continues. His ears flick at the comment, eyes narrowing. ]

I'm not being anything. Just not looking for any problems.

[ At least rank has been fully established. He huffs, satisfied, though not exactly enough to completely cool his bad attitude right now. As for a plan... ]

They're Dragon-types. Gonna take a lot more than a usual bullrush. [ There's an obvious pause as he considers their options, only for him to tilt his head at the other. ] ... You know any Fairy moves?

Edited (i said fire moves I MEANT FAIRY) 2025-11-12 15:51 (UTC)

[Oh, he just had to bring up the sore spot. The guy hasn't been able to conjure a decent fireball since he got here.

Fortunately, he's capable of handling the unpleasant reminder with grace and poise-]

Fire moves? Against a dragon? What, are you kiddin' me?

[-by immediately attacking the suggestion, instead. Okay, sure, it's an ice dragon, that changes things some, but still.]

My other senses can cover my lack of vision just fine, thanks.

[ He hates that she’s right. He hates that he knows she’s right. He hates this. ]

How ‘bout this? [ Slowly, he looks back up at her, taking the other end of the stick in his paw. ] If I get nervous again, I’ll come running back to your arms, my knight in shining armor.

[ parvati offers a nod. that was... easy? the awesome power of the compromise! ]

Heh, my armour's never been that shiny. Armour's never that shiny generally, actually, since it gets covered in the-- [ aaaaaaand there she goes. she's let go of the stick and just gotten to work while she yaps. ]

[ That smartass reply. He had a feeling. Not like Bigby instigated this himself with his immediate bad attitude or anything. ]

Not against them. We need a distraction if we want an advantage.

[ Sounds like that's not going to be happening. He grumbles a bit under his breath. ]

I don't even know what you're supposed to be. Some kind of goblin? [ His nose scrunches up with a sneer. As good as he's gotten at sniffing out types, that does nothing to help with move sets. ] How 'bout you tell me what moves we're working with, huh? Then we'll get a plan going.

[ He squints at her when she starts going off about things he has zero clue about. ]

That's not— ... forget it. [ She's already a mile deep into her explanation. It's a distraction at least while he follows her lead. ] ... I think our definition of armor might be different, Parvati.

--and even then it's-- huh. [ she snaps to attention and turns to him bashfully. ] Oh. Sorry. I gotta stop assumin' people will get it.

[ it's weird having people understand even less of what she says, though. ] How different is yours?

I'm not a friggin'-

[Ugh, no, no, not the point. Not important. It doesn't bother him. ~~It bothers him. It bothers him so, so much that he can barely keep it together.~~

Anyway, there was a question. He sighs through gritted teeth.]

I got this yelling thing I can do. Guess it's called "Astonish."

[It's pathetic. He knows it's pathetic. More brightly, he adds,]

And I got these bad boys!

[He demonstrates by flexing his little digging claws. Yep. Astonish and Scratch, movelist of champions.]

To start, not built for space.

[ His ears twitch. How does one actually describe knight armor, when his only real interaction with it has been to chew it all up? ]

It's, you know, made of some kind of metal. To protect against... swords, I guess. Knights wore it in medieval times or something.

That's like, ancient history to me. [ she quietly giggles to herself. ]

Ours is metal, too! And we still have swords, they just heat up and melt through things instead. [ they made cosmic knives for combat. the better question one should be asking is what haphazardous piece of crockery isn't a weapon. ] Guess humans don't change that much. We don't exactly have princesses to rescue, though. The princesses are the one doing that, if anything.

That's it?

[ Well, they're fucked. ]

Alright. New plan. Forget the claws. I'm going to need you to jump in yelling to get them startled. [ His brows furrow while he gives Impmon a look. ] But don't do it until I give the go-ahead.

[ He starts to move forward a bit, through some thick foliage for cover, until their targets are just up ahead. ]

That's what we're up against, so now's gotta be our chance.

[ And Bigby is indeed asking for his partner to play the role of bait to get this joint going. ]

You know it's ancient history for me too, right? [ Maybe not as far back, but still.

Anyway, heat swords immediately bring lightsabers to mind again. He's just not going to say it. ] Didn't think monarchies in space would be an actual thing though. Seems a bit, mm.

[ A shrug. He doesn't remember the right word, but more importantly, he's focusing on building too. ]

[ in her defence, the 1980s are practically prehistoric to her. ]

Oh, and. We don't? Have monarchies? Not in Halcyon, anyway. Other colonies might. [ arcadia did but it's also a fascist dictatorship, and also parvati has literally no way of knowing this because she is not in the outer worlds 2.

what parvati does know is how to get things done quick. she's made a rather surprising amount of progress just by talking. ] You found your word yet?

[...Okay, on the one hand, he definitely feels like he's being used as bait

But on the other hand, he does like causing havoc and being a distraction. It's sort of thrilling. Y'know what, fine, he'll play along, following quietly through the foliage. He turns out to be pretty adept at being sneaky. ~~Hashtag just ghost type things.~~]

Yeah, yeah, just make sure you don't screw it up once I get their attention.

[It occurs to him only now, after he's already agreed, that he has no idea what Bigby is going to do. Maybe he should have asked about that. Probably too late now.]

[ Please don't remind him, Parvati. He already feels weird about having a phone in his pocket. ]

At least humans learned their lesson about those. [ But is a late-stage capitalist nightmare any better? He wouldn't know. He's literally a wolf. ]

Uh, maybe... [ Instinctively, he looks around to think. Big mistake when he glances down the Canopy. His voice goes quiet. ] ... Anachronistic?

Wasn't there a princess in that serial you were telling me about?

[ she's reaching into the back of her mind to try and recall all of bigby's really awkward off-screen star wars summary. ] Oh! But that's set a long time ago. Huh. Probably doesn't count.

Huh? [ He's back to be being distracted by how high up they are. ] ... Oh. Right. Yeah.

[ Bigby was really hoping she'd forget that whole conversation. ]

They don't really explain how she got that title anyway, s-so. [ He shrugs. Just wait until the prequels, buddy. ] Maybe they were just playing up the damsel thing. I don't know.

Funny, though, ain't it?

[ parvati hops down, moving over to her toolbox again. ] I dunno, I've had so many people try to explain how my own world works to me as if they lived there based on stuff like that.

[ coughing very loudly goro akechi ]

[ Bigby doesn't watch when she jumps down, but the sound of her hitting the platform does make him flinch slightly. ]

I'd call that more annoying than funny. [ Foreboding for conversations to come. ] Some things might sound similar, but every world's got its differences. Hard for people to wrap their head around.

[ Quietly scoffing: ] I know what I'm doing. [ Should he explain? Probably. Will he? No. ]

Just be ready. On my count.

[ He glance up at the foliage above, dried branches ready to fall if nudged just enough. With a twitch of his nose, he starts to pop a few seed into his mouth before beginning the countdown. Three, two, one — well, let's just hope it goes smoothly from here. ]

Eh, I get it plenty. I hope. [ aside from a slight language barrier, but it's literally not even her fault that everyone in space speaks in prohibition era slang peppered with a lot of sci-fi technobabble. ]

No place is gonna be like mine, after all. [ well. perrin's has come pretty close from what she's pieced together from context clues, but no dice on the space thing. plus she's like. an entire century ahead of him, and even more for everyone else. ]

[He's pressing X to doubt so hard right now. But hey, a plan is a plan, and he's already climbing through the bushes- making plenty of noise in the process, to attract interest- as Bigby starts counting down. As soon as he signals 'one,' Impmon pops his head out of the foliage.]

Hey, you big frosty geckos!

[Impmon used Astonish! It definitely gets their attention, too.

He hops out in front of the irritated Arctibax and puffs up as big as a teeny tiny Sableye can puff, shaking one clenched claw-fist defiantly.]

You big jerks wanna mess with Ghost types, huh? Alright then, c'mon! Mess with this one, we'll see how you feel about it! I'm gonna mop the floor with you! One at a time, all at once, don't matter to me! When I'm through with you, you're all gonna go cryin' home to your mamas!

[...If it seems like 'talking a lot of shit that he cannot possibly back up with action' comes extremely naturally to Impmon, that's... a total coincidence, doesn't mean a thing, shut up.]

[ Somehow, despite his nerves, he manages an amused huff. ]

Most reasonable take around here so far. [ A lone voice of reason, Parvati is. That said, he glances between the materials and her tools. ] So, uh. What's the timeline here again, exactly? [ It feels like he's been up here an eternity even if that's entirely untrue. ]

[ to be fair, the sensible take doesn't stop her from forgetting that nobody can understand half of her sentences when she's getting technical sometimes, but every world has layman's terms she can try to meet.

she's been working while they talk, having made even more quick progress in the short (she feels, anyway) time they've been up there. she looks almost done, even. did the tinkaton instincts make her faster or have they just been up here for a while...? ]

I dunno, maybe another hour, but I can do the checking to make sure I did everything right myself.

Another hour...

[ A lifetime in the Canopy. He slumps, clearly not thrilled about the idea, but carefully steps around to help collect a few tools regardless. ]

You know you don't have to do everything yourself. [ Grumpy, but not exactly directed toward her. ] I know I'm more of a hazard than a help but... [ He can try? Keep her company? Let him have something here at least. ]

I mean, if you insist I won't stop you.

[ and stop him she doesn't, returning to work and idle chatter until they land on another subject riveting enough to distract him from the height. ]

[ As expected, all that rustling gets the attention of their targets. Three of them it looks like, but Bigby's has his sights elsewhere. Impmon sure does seem like an expert at making noise. It's almost distracting to him, but he shakes it off, scurrying off while the Arctibaxes look at each other in stunned confusion. Works for him. ]

Watch your head!

[ He fires Seed Bombs up toward the branches, the small explosion of debris now falling right where he wants it to. The Pokemon spread out, with at least one of them being too slow to avoid environmental damage. Bigby's still keeping his distance, but he moves closer, cheeks sparking. ]

Now's the time to hit 'em. [ Oh, right. ] ... Claw 'em.

[Hah! The snow and ice definitely seemed to do a number on one of 'em, but the others avoided the worst of it.

And then- Oh. Ohhhhh, no. Was he actually supposed to get in there with his peewee little claws?

Hoo boy. Welp, he signed up for it, here we are.]

Alright, you jerks, you asked for it! Haaaaaah!

[He jumps at one of the Arctibax, claws extended, and scratches at the dragon's face. The Arctibax growls in irritation and swats at him, but the slap passes through the intangible ghost torso.

And then the Arctibax fires Dragon Breath, and the tiny Sableye body is launched into another tree. On the plus side, it does knock more snow down on them?]

[ With Impmon keeping one Arctibax busy, Bigby focuses on the other. He fires a Thunder Shock, which does little beyond annoy the wild Pokémon, but at least now it’s getting drawn away from its friends. The Morpeko glances over at his own partner just as a swipe goes right through him. He huffs. Ghost-types. ]

You don’t have to keep shouting.

[ Unless it somehow also makes Impmon’s own attacks stronger. Bigby meanwhile is still trying to play keep away with a mixture of shocks and bombs. They’re ineffective but safe, until he hears the Sableye get launched back. ]

... Shit. [ Instinctively, Bigby rushes forward with a Quick Attack to get the dragon to back off, only to get yoinked by an Ice Fang. His body immediately tenses before he can try to fight his way free. ] H-hey, get up! The other one’s coming! [ And with a Dragon Claw no less, aiming right for Impmon. ]

[What Impmon tries to say is "You worry about what you're doing and let me worry about what I'm doing."

What comes out is something more along the lines of-]

Mrn... grehhhh...

[Inspiring stuff. But he's still trying desperately to climb back to his feet, and not a bit too soon- he's able to stand- well, more like wobble in a vaguely upright fashion- but apparently sheer instinct lets him leap aside from the dangerous claws of the dragon.

They instead drive into the very tree Impmon had recently bounced off of, and the Arctibax is stuck for a moment as its claws get lodged in place. The impact knocks another heavy dose of ice and snow on the Arctibax's head.]

Hah! How's tha~aaaaa...

[Is as far as Impmon's boast gets before he topples over backwards again, unbalanced and still woozy from the earlier impact.]

[ He's just going to take that grumbling as Impmon saying got it, boss because Bigby really needs to be focusing on himself right now. The Arctibax shakes him a bit like a ragdoll before flinging him aside, leading to a not-so-great landing. He hits the ground with a thud, tumbling a bit in the snow before he's able to get his bearings.

At least he's able to look just in time to see his partner avoid the hit, followed by him immediately toppling over. That gets a low huff. ]

Get up! We're not do—nn. [ Almost forgot about his friend Arctibax. He jumps away before getting snapped up again. It's a struggle with the pain and cold now, but he scurries to the Sableye to try to push him back on his feet. There's only so much strength in such a small body though. ] C'mon... that can't be all you got...

[ Hard to be motivating when he's this frustrated. Regardless, he stands guard over Impmon, growling at the approaching Arctibax before shaking his head. ]

You better get up in the next five seconds.

Edited (typo oof) 2025-12-26 08:43 (UTC)

November Catch-all

Don't Get Snowdin Again (Parvati)

Bax to Arctibax (Impmon)

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1/2

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(1/2)

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sobs my edit was too late....but i'm rolling with my mistake bc this is funnier

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FDJHKS I MISSED THE EDIT I AM SO SORRY

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YOU'RE GOOD <3 let's turn my accident into a happy little tree (for them to set on fire)

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Ffffft that icon is still SO GOOD

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any opportunity to use it, i have to take

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As is right and proper

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maybe good to wrap?

yuppers!

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