Meet the (Impersonated) Family!

[improvking]

Who: the Ring-Spirit, YOU??, and """Kul Elna"""
What: RS catching up with the Spiritomb he thinks is his missing village
Where: the Clinic
When: late June - early July (yea, backdated slightly)
Warnings: possible discussion of Kul Elna backstory (mass murder, human sacrifice, metaphysical injury)


[ After all the missions to the South Forest, eventually the Spiritomb responsible was dealt with. The team responsible for concluding the incident brought their keystone back to the clinic so they could recoup, determined to recruit rather than do in the troublesome spirit.

And while the Spiritomb recovers, anyone visiting the clinic might or might not be surprised to find a certain Mimikyu has been spending most of his free time there visiting with the other spirit.

The suspicious might note that the Ring-Spirit's "family" seems to be suffering from memory issues that just magically clear right up if he hands them the information. The Ring-Spirit himself is unwilling to entertain doubts about the Spiritomb's identity. After all, they're already "doing so much better" in Bottlecap Bay than he'd "ever thought he'd see". He's excited to "finally" be able to "talk with them, instead of just at them". ...What kind of condition had the real Kul Elna been in, exactly...? ]


[A]
[ The Ring-Spirit can often be overheard chatting with the Spiritomb by anyone at the clinic. Right now you've caught: ]

- wasn't expecting you to be. But you've got a point, now that you mention it; pretending to be sorry is probably better optics.


[B]
[ Or maybe you've bumped into the Ring-Spirit as he leaves or arrives for a visit. Curious as to why he's at the clinic? Or do you already know and want to ask about the Spiritomb (and perhaps even the Ring-Spirit's unusual credulity)? ]

Comments

[improvking]

[ The Ring-Spirit fidgets with his tail-stick uncomfortably. ]

Well, they're in a good mood now, so why ruin it by asking for confirmation I don't even want to hear...

[ Sounds like someone involved is a huge emotional coward. ]

[telewarped]

Because it's messed up? If they really do resent you for some magic possession BS that sounds like it wasn't even your fault, then maybe we should send 'em back to where you found 'em. Some family!

[They set her on fire and they aren't even nice to their kid? What are they even bringing to the Bay, then?!]

[cw: and back to the human sacrifice, plus the plurality-adjacent soul-fusion]

[improvking]

[ The Ring-Spirit grimaces under his costume (possibly? can mimikyus' true forms grimace?) and scratches at his false head with his tail-stick. Hrm. He's not explaining this well. ]

...Whose fault is is kind of depends on how you count who "me" is?

And I mean, I guess I didn't make Akhenadin sacrifice anybody, but also I don't know how he'd have gotten the ritual instructions if my divine self wasn't who originally came up with them, so... I mean, if you write a recipe that calls for "ninety-nine human souls", is it only the eventual cook's fault for him killing ninety-nine people??

[ The Ring-Spirit's been reflecting on the extent of "his own" involvement a lot. ...He has given significantly less thought on how to explain any of it without sounding utterly incoherent. ]

[telewarped]

[She stares at him for a moment, eyes narrowed in confusion. It looks like he's lost her.]

Huh? [Then she shakes her head—which, for a Mimikyu, is more like shaking her entire body. Vexed, she huffs.] Ugh, it doesn't matter! My point is... family should have your back no matter. And if they just turned on you like that... Then why even bother keeping 'em around? Maybe you're better off without them.

[She thinks suddenly, regrettably, of her own family then—of Shiba, of Ayano. If they were to show up here again out of the blue, attacking her on sight, would she give them the same chance? If it were Ayano, she absolutely would. As for Shiba...

She seems distant for a moment.]

Do they even want to be here?

[improvking]

[ The Ring-Spirit huffs. She doesn't understand! And... he's sure that's on him. He's not. explaining right. He doesn't know how to explain. He doesn't even know where to begin. Thinking too hard about his own composition of "self" gives even him a headache. Add to that varying degrees of emerging guilt or shame for things he'd never bothered thinking about before... well.

Anyway. ]

Mn, they might not want to, long-term, you've got a point. They don't have much choice at the moment... they took a beating from the, uh. various teams that they fought with...

[ This is awkward, so awkward. ]

...but on that note they did seem pretty attached to that clearing, didn't they. So... I guess we should talk about whether they want to head back there, once they can...

[ And whether they'd want him to come with them. He doesn't want to restart that argument with Shoka, not before he's had a chance to figure out how to explain; but he'd be willing to go with Kul Elna, if they still wanted him... on the other hand, just knowing that they're somewhere is a great comfort. Maybe he'd be ok now if they still want to be on their own... ]

[telewarped]

[They don't have much choice? They should talk about it?]

Wow. You didn't think this through at all, did you?

[But can she really blame him? If it were her family, could she say that she'd be able to think things through completely clearly?

After a long moment, she sighs.]

Okay, look. Lemme ask a different question. Am I gonna have to worry about them setting the whole Bay ablaze the second they're better, or...?

[improvking]

[ Ugh, ""thinking things through"" is so overrated... but fortunately, Shoka gives up on that approach after a (semi-)brief staredown. ]

No. They're calm, aware this isn't their territory, and now that we've finally defeated them, they're much more amenable to our presence in theirs... there's one thing about pokemon instincts, it (somehow) smooths over a lot of disagreements once you've won the fight, so.

[ He's less certain they won't get up to mischief than he's presenting, but he'd rather be proven wrong later than make them seem still suspicious. ]

...Honestly they seem pretty content to just stay put for the moment. I know they are hurt right now and in need of the Clinic's services, but they've even been trying to be friendly towards Anasui... who is an asshole. [ (is he, RS? are you sure that's not a personal bias?) ] They might end up not staying long-term, but I don't think they mind being here for now.

I...'m... [ he hesitates, then does the equivalent of gritting teeth and forcing out the word: ] ...sorry they hurt you... especially so bad you needed Clinic time too... and that I didn't know to visit or anything...

[ He HATES apologizing, but he's pretty sure it's called for in this situation. ]

[telewarped]

[Shoka listens to him carefully, saying nothing, although his remark about Anasui being an asshole does earn an amused snort (she likes Anasui, really, and owes him for having her back in a few sticky situations, but she'd be lying if she said he couldn't be an overly aggressive weirdo sometimes—a trait she can relate to, unfortunately). Eventually, she decides:]

... Fine. If you say so.

[If he says so... she'll give Spiritomb a chance.

The Ring-Spirit's apology comes next, forced out like pulled teeth. Shoka blinks at him in surprise, then gives a titter.]

Whoa, is that a genuine apology? Sure you don't need clinic time? [Another snicker, before her tone softens.] Don't be. I'm fine now, aren't I? And I didn't really want to make a big deal out of it anyway...

[She would have preferred to keep the severity of the injury between the clinic staff and her teammates... but it just sort of slipped out in her shock.]

You... seem happy to have 'em around. All things considered...