bottlecaplogs | november catchall

[They are repressing the instinctual urge to start licking some of the yet-unbandaged injuries. That's weird. It'd be weird. Odile would think they're weird(er than she already does). And anyway it's one thing to lick your own injuries and entirely another when they're someone else's - they're sure Odile would hate it.]

Well, while you're here, I'll let you in on a secret! From experience!

If you're a poor bedraggled invalid and you're staying in bed, people have to bring you whatever you ask for. It's a clinic rule.

[It is so not a rule. This is a little bit them trying to convince her to stay and recover, but mostly them asking her if she wants anything.]

Is that so?

[ It's certainly proven true for Siffrin - but Odile isn't sure how this one might take that, so she doesn't say so. She has some idea what this is really about anyhow. She doesn't want to spend the night here, but Siffrin (the Shinx one in particular) hardly ever approaches asking for something... ]

Well. I suppose I wouldn't say no to some of my books...

[The Audino (not very subtly) slumps in relief. They weren't looking forward to trying to argue her into staying... even if it's not totally guaranteed yet.]

[Siffrin, meanwhile, drops all four of their paws back on the ground.]

Which books do you want? "How To Garden With Volatile Gourds"?

[Surely they can manage getting to Odile's quarters and back without her...]

Ha ha.

[ Dryly. Come on, they can do a little better than that. ]

Any of the books about local legends will do. I'm looking into some things.

"Escape The Clinic or Die Trying"? "All Of This World's Secrets: A Handy Reference"?

[But they give her a wave of their tail and trot out the door, in a wordless, 'be right back!']

[It does take them longer than it would've taken Odile, at least in good health - they won't comment on whether it's because they didn't quite remember the way to her quarters, or because they had to convince someone in the Lum Berries to allow them in without her, or because they realized they'd have to scrounge up a bag to carry more than one book back. But when they do show up, they're lugging a bag in their teeth.]

[They seem to have grabbed the first few books they could find that were very clearly about local legends, and - if she had any books left open - they'll have grabbed one or two of those, regardless of the subject. And carefully jammed pencils or pens in as makeshift bookmarks.]

[ By the time they return, Odile has settled back a little more comfortably in the bed. She's still not exactly pleased to spend the night here, but she seems to have resigned herself to it. Siffrin has enough troubles without worrying about her. ]

Thank you, Siffrin.

Don't mention it!

[They deposit the bag on the bed, within easy reach, and nose it open a little so Odile can see what's inside. Then they sink down on the ground near the bed, tucking their paws underneath their body.]

[They seem content to just hang out quietly, until and unless Odile either talks to them or kicks them out. Or the clinic staff shoo them out, but as long as they're quiet and not in the way that might take a while. (It's not like being exploded is contagious!)]

[ Odile's quite happy to have their company! After she got used to them, Siffrin became the easiest member of the party for her to spend time with. Prolonged silences seem to make Mirabelle nervous, Isabeau is more active, and of course Boniface is a child; for all that she loves the others, she and Siffrin are perhaps the most similar. She leafs through the book for a little while, without worrying overmuch about Siffrin for once.

As interesting as this research is, it's hardly vital. She's still catching up on general knowledge. Eventually, eyes still on her book, she asks: ]

So. Have you ended up in this clinic before?

[Siffrin's ear twitches.]

Who hasn't?

[They say it casually enough, with an amused tone, but. That's definitely a yes.]

What were you in for?

[ Her tone is equally casual! A lot of what goes on here might result in injury; it's not necessarily a problem.

(Chances are higher with them, though!) ]

Fistfight with a giant fish.

[ They're an electric-type; you'd think they'd come out on top in that fight! It's comforting to Odile, to know that they weren't necessarily taking some sort of ridiculous risk. ]

Oh, poor Siffrin. Betrayed by seafood.

[ They've always seemed to enjoy seafood! Odile does too! She grew up with a lot of it, of course, Ka Bue being an island. ]

I didn't even get to eat it afterward...

[Tragedy! Injustice! They mime a theatrical despairing pose, the back of one paw pressed against their forehead.]

Ha - too bad. You could have gotten all that hunting debate out of the way before I got here.

[ Admittedly Odile didn't listen to most of that because it was loud and annoying! ]

[Oof. That. Siffrin also didn't listen to most of it, because they've been trying not to think about it.]

But then what would people have brain-arguments over?

I'm sure they'd think of something.

[ Odile's somewhat indifferent to the whole thing. She doesn't do her own hunting, but that's more for practical reasons than anything else. She does not want to run around the woods. But she's a carnivore, and she eats meat. If the Pokemon here think it's all normal, why should she agonize over it? ]

I'm glad we don't have those things at home. "Calling Craft" aside, I suppose.

Maybe that's the real reason we ended up here! The Universe decided it didn't want the secret fourth hand signal spreading any further! [Teehee.]

[If only that were it. Then maybe Isabeau, Mirabelle, and Bonnie would be here too...]

[Selfish of them as usual! Everyone else has a home to get back to, even if they want to keep traveling with stardust for a while first. You should be hoping that Odile and stardust get to go back instead, Siffrin.]

[ Odile smirks. ]

A small price to pay, to defeat the scourge.

[ An off-the-cuff comment. She managed, this time, to think ahead quickly (and well) enough to say that instead of - well, jokingly blaming Siffrin. Even she can guess how that would be received.

This whole discussion may be dangerous, actually. Fortunately Odile is already interested in another angle. ]

How did you come across that?

[ She probably remarked on it before, when they first met in Dormont, but that was not really the time. ]

[Oh, Odile is going to hate this answer.]

I didn't! I just suddenly knew it when... when I became Loop.

[Among other things, like how to make stuff sparkle in Siffrin's vision. Seeing profiles. Being able to spy on stardust in the House, up until the very top floors. Aaaand absolutely nothing helpful about Wish or Time Craft.]

The Universe decided I should have it, I guess.

The Universe?

[ She may or may not have heard them reference it, but she's never really gotten an explanation. ]

[The thought of trying to explain is exhausting. She won't care, won't remember, will just drop it as quickly as she caught it.]

That's right!

[Or will she...?]

And that is...a living thing? With a will?

[ Who knows. She hasn't got any notes about it just yet, but she does have a sense that it's been brought up before...she'll write it down in a moment. ]

We have stories of Expressions teaching people how to use Craft, back in Ka Bue, but those are stories. Nothing that happens observably.

[Urgh.]

I'm not a theologist, R - ! [They cut themself off before they actually say 'Researcher.' They're not doing that anymore. They don't actually want the distance, but the idea of her forgetting again later feels less bad if they have it...]

[Still, that's already something - they're basically confirming that this is a religious thing.]

[...]

It's - everything. We're all part of it. But it leads... [Which doesn't really answer whether the Universe is a living being, but they feel like this was a point of debate even... no, if they think any harder they'll just forget. Keep to the things that feel like instinct.]

[They take a breath in and out, and then push more cheer back into their voice.] Wish Craft feels pretty observable, don't you think?

[ ...she has more questions, but the topic seems strange.

Odile flips through her notebook for a moment. She can't truly keep the subject in her head, but she knows there's some sort of thread she's been following with Siffrin for months. Well before they ever reached Dormont at all. Maybe at first it was born of suspicion; later on, it had seemed...more like a concern. And here it is, "Universe" listed along with "stars". ]

...you're...from that island, aren't you? Across the sea.

[ That's how she thinks of it. It wasn't north of Ka Bue. Of course, Odile thinks of it only roughly so often as something reminds her. When she does, she finds that she can remember its vanishing fairly well. Of course she wanted to know what had happened even back then. Until, of course, she forgot to wonder. ]

. . .

[They don't answer.]

[But that's kind of an answer in and of itself, isn't it? Especially for this Siffrin, who's usually more prone to covering things up by talking.]

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