bottlecaplogs | Impromptu Oran Sleepover

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guilty gear: a.b.a

Impromptu Oran Sleepover

Who: Oran newbies
What: Having fun with communal dens
When: Sometime after Mightyena gathered them up
Where: The Spire, low tier dens
Warnings: Will add if anything comes up, but not anticipating anything

[As everyone knows by now, the Oran Berries depend heavily on communal living, sharing a bed is simply to be expected. For some, this experience was temporary. Mightyena was kind enough to lend the mysterious misplaced Pokémon a place to rest, but now some of them have moved on.

For others, this is now a part of life, and it's time to get used to it. The Oran Berries value treating everyone like friends and family, after all, so you're expected to do the same! Why not have some fun with it?

Whether you've noticed your fellow newcomers are all gathering in one den, or you suddenly find yourself dragged into the the party against your will, everyone is invited! Everyone's going through the same thing, belong to the same guild, you gotta stick together.....right?]

[[ooc: Feel free to use this as a mingle log! We have nine Oran Berries (I think???) and although the dens are said to hold up to eight, I think some members are small enough that we should be able to include everyone!]]

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[Ingo always used to sleep like a rock. It's just another thing that's changed slightly; he's still a rather heavy sleeper in his own tent, but the combination of unfamiliar surroundings and the lack of his own Pokemon keeping the usual watch still has him waking up throughout the night here, on alert for the sounds of possible predators. Hard to say whether Emmet's departure was the thing that woke him or not - he didn't say anything then - but he's out and about now.]

Oh, here you are! I woke and saw that you had gone.

[Was he worried? Sort of? He isn't that sure he should have been. Emmet's a grown man, he hardly needs Ingo fussing over him. But...well, what if he was upset about something? Most of the something he might be upset about probably come down to Ingo.]

[ For a moment, the gaze that slides past Ingo's is curiously devoid of recognition or acknowledgment. It's almost a little too wild, the pupils constricted, gaze unfocused— or maybe focused on some point behind Ingo rather than actually on him.

In fact, it's almost like he doesn't realize Ingo's there at all. The one sign that seems to indicate that Emmet has noted the other's presence is that he stops, rather than continuing to walk the halls. ]

[ But the moment passes, the yellowed gaze squeezing shut for several moments too long to strictly be called a blink. When his eyes reopen the wild look has faded some. ]

Couldn't sleep. Figured I'd do something sort of useful instead. Easy to get lost in here if someone isn't careful.

[ If he learns better then he can keep others from going down the wrong tracks, or guide them back to the correct ones. It's something he can do, so he'll carry his weight.

His expression takes on a vaguely apologetic cast. ]

Did I wake you up?

[Ingo, despite himself, balks a tiny bit. That look - it just makes him look more like a wild Zoroark. But it passes, and Ingo holds his ground.]

Not at all! I...do not find it easy to sleep in such an unfamiliar place, surrounded by unfamiliar Pokemon. Perhaps if one of them happened to be a Gliscor.

[But, oh well. He'll adjust.]

[ Emmet makes a noise low in his throat. Agreeing, thoughtful, generally.

If he notices Ingo's reaction he does not call attention to it. ]

What I do. What I say. Always the same. [ ... ] It is good to divert from one's usual tracks every now and then. I do not mind it. It is even fun, sometimes.

But it is still a lot to adjust to.

Yes, it is. I feel strange sleeping the way that this body would like to. And it is always rather damp in here.

[He used to feel the damp in his bad shoulder, but now he just sort of feels it in his flame-spots around his collar? Strange...and still not pleasant.]

I am all limbs and too much fur.

[ Complained, much in the same way. ]

Hard to figure out how I am supposed to arrange myself. Or not end up in someone else's space without meaning to.

[ He's aware he can be a bit much sometimes in general, but for it to happen while he's trying to sleep is just silly. ]

They say that you can have more space if you level up within the guild! Private rooms, even!

[Is that something Emmet would like? Ingo...quite honestly cannot tell if they're rooming together because Emmet wants to room with Ingo, or simply because all of the new recruits just sort of ended up in a room together almost by default. For his own part, Ingo has rarely shared a tent with any other people since he became a Warden, but he still never sleeps alone; he's accustomed to having at least some his Pokemon close by. He isn't sure that being entirely alone would feel much more natural.]

I have heard. [ ... ] Is that something you want?

[ Ingo did just say it's difficult to sleep when surrounded by strangers, after all.

They'd had their own rooms before. But that was before, and this is now. In several ways including the obvious neither of them is quite the same as they were before. For Emmet's part he thinks he's been managing the whole 'being okay with letting Ingo out of his sight' thing fine, even if a significant part of him doesn't really want to, and a not-so-quiet part, bolstered by sleep deprivation and some of the scenes that find him when he tries, is still convinced he might disappear again—

Enough of that. He is Emmet and he can handle this messiness without worrying anyone. He's had enough of that already, thank you, from before ... this. ]

Oh, well. [He gives a weird four-legged shrug.] I would like to be helpful, and I suppose that results in gaining rank! But that is not the important part of it to me.

[It's not all that uncommon for grown family members to share a tent in the Pearl settlement, at least until one or the other of them gets married. It helps with the cold. Is that something he wants, though...? It's hard for him to say. They seem to work well together very naturally, like two gears clicking into place, but at the same time Ingo feels like they've really only just met.]

Bzzt. Didn't answer what I asked. [ Emmet draws himself back to sit on his haunches, tilting his head as he watches the Typhlosion's reactions. ] Rank, no rank, it will happen regardless. We were going to help anyway.

[ In part because none of them really have any idea what else to do with themselves, the rest because yeah, of course they should give back if the guilds are providing for them?

That's a lot of vagueness, Ingo. Emmet doesn't want to assume. ]

Do you want a private room.

[ Does Emmet need to give him more space. Has he been barreling through things too fast, like with whatever that static was, the other afternoon. ]

[Hm. So they're doing this, then. Ingo sits up on his haunches as well, giving him a few inches of extra height.]

...I do not think so. I might like a room with fewer people in it, but I will get used to the new company. I have not slept in a space without my own Pokemon in it for a very long time...I think the silence would also put me off.

Okay then. Then you can share, if that is what you want. [ pause. ] With me, or with someone else. Doesn't ... have to be me.

[ Simple as that. It's strange, though, having to look up at Ingo in a situation where they should be level. ]

I will be fine with it even if you snore. And stay up too late. And if you change your mind that will be okay too. I am not always very good at filling the silence.

[ Matter of factly. ]

That would...make sense, I think!

[Emmet's the person he knows best here, even if the bar for that is quite low. And anyway, they're family. Doesn't it make the most sense for them to share out of anyone here? Though...]

Is that what you want to do?

[ 'If you think I am willingly decoupling from you now you have another think coming' is the joke he'd quip back with if things were normal, but. Well.

Too much? Too clingy? Codependent, overly reliant, unable to work on his own? It's old, irrational doubts, made new again by— all this, and too many sleepless nights, insistent, unhappy dreams here bleeding into the waking world. News cycles grasping for answers that aren't there to find. Sensationalist tabloids throwing whatever they can at the wall to see if it sticks. His own thoughts, sometimes, fruitless nights spent wondering.

Old, papered over things from when it'd much more recently occurred. That's all it is. He knows it is. And yet the looming shadow of them stills his tongue anyway. Even saying he'd missed Ingo had seemed like a bit too much back on the beach. (He'd also convinced himself he was jumping at shadows just because he thought he'd recognized something familiar in a stranger. Isn't that sign enough he's not good at letting things go?) Not knowing the correct tracks to follow...

The uncertainty is annoying. The billow of his mane lashes about unhappily. It's energy that goes nowhere, though the red edges of his fur blur just a little. Emmet doesn't want to go anywhere. He just doesn't want to overwhelm or pressure. ]

Yes. I will stay as long as you want me to. [ like an afterthought: ] And maybe I will also add Gliscor to the list.

...the list?

[There's more there. What does he mean, "as long as he wants him to"? Ingo's impression had been that they were close, before Hisui, but Emmet acts like there's no particular reason they might be sticking together here. Other than maybe Ingo latching on to something from the past. Is he trying to recreate something that never really existed...?

Far easier to ask about this list!]

[ ...? That expression ... What did he say or do now? ]

Things to figure out with Illusion. So far: Hisuian Typhlosion. Chandelure. Gliscor. Aaaaand maybe Archeops to see if the transformation is physical enough for flight to work? Maybe, probably not, but worth a shot.

[ Rattled off like it's just normal to experiment with silly things like that. Easier to talk about this than around the subjects they're both dodging around, anyway. ]

... Still don't know what happened that first time. So maybe it's best to avoid trying to look like myself until I figure it out better.

So far, though, I do not think I am a very good Zoroark.

[There's certainly worse things to be than "bad at being a Zoroark". But Ingo's been trying very hard not to let the full bad reputation of Hisuian Zoroark slip.]

Well, it must take practice! Young Zorua are never as good at it as Zoroark.

[Zorua almost always just do the scary doppelganger routine. Zoroark...really only do that one in special circumstances.]

I'm sure you will get the hang of it!

[ Even with just the reputation of the Unovan ones, being a bad Zoroark is. Funny, if he thinks about it a little too hard. Funny is a word for it. ]

No Technical Machines or Records for Illusion. Having to learn how to be a good vengeful spirit is a strange thing to say ...

[ especially when the whole point is to look less like one. It's a little bit of a rambling, trailing thought not quite as concise as his usual, though; the lack of sleep, likely, is getting to him in more ways than one.

Emmet's gaze casts back and forth across the hallway for a moment. They're probably blocking the path, huh. ]

... Do you want to want to go somewhere more comfortable? Doesn't have to be a bed. There are lounges higher up.

[ in the dining area, that is. Not exactly mealtime right now, but maybe the space is still open? ]

Oh - yes, very well. Perhaps we can make some calming tea?

[He's not sure if the kitchens are accessible to anyone at any time. But Ingo's relieved for the segue; sooner or later, standing here in the hallway like this was going to get awkward.]

I am Emmet. [ 'I did not really drink that much tea before.' ] I don't know if they have the right leaves for that here ... but you would know better than me if there's something that works. Something calming sounds good.

[ Considering he's still steadfastly doing his best to disregard the effects of his so-far sleepless night.

Emmet hesitates for a moment, though, before actually getting back to his feet and padding over to Ingo's side. ]

... Sorry to make you have to come look for me. Didn't mean to worry you.

They say that Pokemon were the first to discover tea, you know! But maybe that's just a story.

[Regardless, we'll have to see!]

That is alright! I was not...worried, exactly. [Should he have been? It's not like he expects any real danger around here. He supposes he just...] I just wanted to know where you were.

[He wasn't going to be able to fall asleep anyway, for thinking about it.]

Oh. Is that ... That is a story about Sinistea? Is that right?

[ off to try to see if there's tea, and not the kind Shoka's interested in. ]

Wouldn't have gone far, anyway. [ Unless he got lost, but he's used to navigating through mazelike, underground tunnels. Worst case scenario, just find the tunnels that slope upwards, go back to the top, then work one's way back down. Simple. ] I am Emmet. You are here. No reason to be anywhere else.

...of course.

[He's not sure what else to say. "Good"? That's how he feels, but he doesn't want Emmet to feel like he can't take any time and space to himself.]

And yes! Sinistea do not live in Hisui, but we still do enjoy tea.

Hmm. Sinistea is Galarian, mostly. Don't really find them in Unova, so...

[ Why tea, anyway? Are there going to eventually be entire sets of ecologically similar drink ghosts differentiated only by what kind of beverage they decided to take up residence in?

Ah, wait, wait, focus. ]

You will have to tell me what's ... Well. I will trust you to make something good. If there is something for tea available.

b-i

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