bottlecaplogs | November+December Catch-All

Entry tags:

November+December Catch-All

Who: Siffrin (Shinx) + Shoka, Laios, Cedric, Chara, Anasui, Parvati
What: The fallout of the Network Incident, and also quests. Sometimes both at once!
Where: Spire, Canopy, wherever various search quests take them
When: One thread backdated to October, otherwise throughout November (including during the snowstorm) and December
Warnings: Potentially Siffrin's warnings (definitely spoilers & alluded-to suicidal ideation in Shoka's thread), the usual quest peril

Threaded | Flat

[Apparently, someone in the Cheri Berry administration team remembers Siffrin and Laios's attempts at ~~EDM~~ practicing their electric move control. Someone remembers and was thinking "absolutely not," and has banished them to the furthest mid-tier housing available... practically on top of each other. If they're going to be playing loud music, do it away from everyone else!!]

[Until the snowstorm, this mostly isn't relevant. Laios is avoiding Siffrin, Siffrin is telling themself that's only to be expected and not thinking about it, all is well (no) and quiet in this corner of the Canopy. But the uneasy silence only lasts until everyone's snowed in and Siffrin has nothing to do but think ~~and maybe huddle with stardust~~. They can feel themself going stir-crazy at the snowed-in days feeling the same, itching with the need to go somewhere different, and that's the point where they abruptly come to the conclusion: being ignored is worse. Someone acting like they don't exist is worse. They'd rather be outright hated, even by someone who they were(??) friends with.]

[Which is what prompts a Shinx just busting through the layer of snow at Laios's doorway.]

[They're not supposed to have been outside? It's fiiiine, they're literally right next to each other. Siffrin's absolutely not shivering a little because their winter coat wasn't done growing in, they don't know what you're talking about. Far more importantly:]

Have you been avoiding me, sparky? I'm so hurt!

[Up to and including the point that Siffrin is outside Shoka's dorm doorway, they still have no idea what they're going to say. They don't know whether to be "Loop" for this or "Siffrin" (they don't know if they're still entirely capable of being "Siffrin"?), they're pretty sure Shoka won't want to see them... They feel guilty about warping Shoka into a bush and running away, but they've been feeling guilty about that for several days at this point. They've just been avoiding dealing with it.]

[But also, she's been having a rough time this past week-and-change. Her dead family showed up and then disappeared, her crush(??) is in a coma in the hospital (in the hospital again!), they caused her multiple headaches... With the Oran Berries, it's probably fine, but Siffrin. Kind of wants to check on her? Make sure she's been eating? They are carefully not thinking too hard on a certain conversation, one about being okay with "tapping out."]

[...]

[So! Here they are, with apology(? condolences? both??) malasadas. At least they didn't forget those.]

["Here" being... still just outside. It takes one of Shoka's roommates walking up to the door and squinting at them with an odd look to finally prompt Siffrin into motion. They give the Pokemon a sparkly smile and prance confidently through the door - but once they cross the threshold and spot Shoka, the image of her desperate expression when they said "Me, of course!" jumps into their head unprompted. It's a work of effort not to visibly wince, and in the process they lose their defensive sparkling.]

...hey. [It's muffled through the bag of malasadas.]

[After being trapped by the snowstorm, Siffrin is itching to go somewhere and get something done, and a search quest seems as reasonable an option as any! They don't even care who they go with, whoever they get grouped with is fine - which is why they're now waiting for a "Cedric" from the Oran Berries. They vaguely remember hearing the name around, but they can't put a face (or muzzle, or beak?) to it. So they're relying on meeting in front of the questboard and looking for someone approaching them that they don't recognize.]

[Thier first thought when they see someone like that is: bird. Hat bird. (Cribbing their style - no)]

[...but hang on. They never got a name, but they're pretty sure they do recognize that beak and hat.]

[Siffrin's eyes curve up into amused crescents.] Haven't we met already?

[They're thinking of another Murkrow. A shiny one, as it happens... but they can't tell! To them, at most Cedric is a slightly darker shade, and their memory of that encounter is already fuzzy. They assume the side tufts were always like that.]

[It takes Siffrin longer than they expected, padding along the cliffs beside and beyond the Spire and peering over the edge, to find some Wattrel nests - or rather, to find enough of them in one general area to make it worth climbing down. By the time they do, they've already nearly forgotten about the mask they've got strapped to their hat.]

[Alright. How are they going to approach this. They can see... at least two possible routes down, they think. But on the first they're going to have to hope there are some clawholds in the rock that aren't visible from up here. The other is less steep, and less rocky, but that's because it's at least partially overhangs made of nothing but compacted dirt. If their weight destabilizes those enough...]

[And then they're going to have to climb back up, too. Or take a dive off into the sea and swim, which they're not uwilling to do, but - do weird bird nests dissolve in seawater? Probably it'd affect the taste, right??]

[(They have, at least, remembered to once again borrow a harness with some attached saddlebags. Or they'd be stuck carrying one nest at a time...)]

[The Middle Forest is Siffrin's least favorite part of the woods. They've had to travel in it enough times that it doesn't set them off quite as bad as the first go through (which was also with Anasui! Funny to remember that now). But the time fracture hallucinations(?) get their hackles up every time.]

[They'd like to think they're better at hiding it now! And at least they're not here with Anasui and Emporio and Akari, this time - with the time fractures that might be pushing it.]

[They're still thinking about it, though, which is why they comment to Anasui brightly:] Here's hoping this time you don't have to give me a piggyback ride!

[If they make a joke out of it, it is definitely not bothering them. That's how it works!]

[Parvati and Siffrin have just started on clearing snow in this corner of town, but so far they're doing pretty well! Siffrin's paws are passable for tunneling, you can't say Parvati isn't a hard worker, and the two even have ways to deal with slippery layers of ice when they uncover it. (Siffrin zaps it with bolts of lightning to get it melting, and if that doesn't work - well, Parvati can always just shatter it!)]

[The rhythm of their work is interrupted when a door they've just finished clearing out opens, and a Dewott leans out. He's wringing his hands nervously.] Thank you! But, um, could you take a look at the roof too? I swear I keep hearing it creak, and I'm worried about all the ice and snow on it...

[There's nothing wrong with the request in and of itself, but...]

[Siffrin looks at the roof, which is clearly very far overhead and out of reach - they wouldn't have a chance of jumping up there even if it weren't icy. They look at Parvati, equally way too short to reasonably reach. Then they look back at the Dewott with a smile that seems just a bit sharp around the edges.] Sure, we'll get right to it!

[Though... the next place Siffrin glances is Parvati's hammer. Very speculatively.]

Threaded | Flat

Cheri Housing, during the blizzard (Laios)

Oran Housing, backdated to the day after Noellequest (Shoka)

Furfrou's Sake! (Cedric)

Bone Appetit (Chara)

Is Anyone Out There? (Anasui)

Snow Place Like Home (Parvati)