Kai: I think I get what you're talking about. Gods, people are so pretty and I'm such a colossal mess.

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Jul 4th 2018 at 8:45:54 AM

Volpe's House

Tigre grabs Shun's hand and stares at him - intense as ever.

Tigre: You count to three, an' we play, si?

Leone has found a bag of microwave popcorn and has begun using his Obscura powers to heat up and pop the corn in the bag.

Team Iron Base

Janet gulps as she looks away.

Janet: Ah...

She reaches out to Lucille, trying to say something along the lines of "you don't have to say anything, yannow?" - but notices the song change.

And has a short chuckle.

Janet: Oh, this song, Heh~

Lumiose Pokemon Centre

Levi: Sure thing, Stumps~

As Lucius answers his messages, Levi flops onto a nearby couch.

Levi: So! Got any big plans line up for today~?

Volpe's House - April Fool's Day

-Shun blinks again as he meets Tigre's gaze.-

Shun: Uh, very well. One, two, thr-

-That's probably about as far as he gets.-

Team Iron Base - Past

-Lucille is quiet for a long while, only half paying attention to the song's lyrics.-

Lucille: ...Okay, I can get behind his one. They sure ar... oh.

-Something seems to click in her mind, and she glances down.-

Lucille: Mind if we... skip ahead?

Lumiose Pokemon Center

-After sending his texts, Lucius flops down next to Levi.-

Lucius: Nope. I was just planning on drinking and seeing how far I can get through old Prism Rangers episodes before passing out.

Stormchaser - Past

Jessica: "The cupcakes. I bake. Though now I want to dabble in brewing..."

Lumiose - Past

Elizabeth: "..."

"When did you realize you were...you know..."

Edited by SwiftSeraph on Jul 4th 2018 at 8:08:27 AM

Volpe's House

Indeed, as soon as Shun says "three", he is not only easily beaten, but he is catapulted with so much force that he is thrown into the floor - breaking the floorboards in the process.

Tigre, after this, happily claps her hands.

Tigre: I win this game! Now we are even, signore Shun!

Leone looks over, picking at his bag of electrically popped corn and pokes at Shun.

Leone: Is-a... He okay, sor'?

Leone doesn't notice he's poking Shun with short bursts of static electricity, but at this point, neither does Shun (probably)

Team Iron Base.

Janet scarmbles for her MP 3 player.

Janet: Y-yes of course, Lucille!

She quickly changes it to the next song on the list, a fun little ditty named Friday Night Gurus.

Janet: ...

Janet looks down.

Janet: S-sorry about that... W-would you like to talk about something else? Like... books... perhaps...?

Lumiose Pokemon Center

Levi: Can't knock that~

Levi slings his arm over Lucius's shoulder.

Levi: But what if I made an offer of a thing you could do on your birthday~?

Levi's cheeky nature never seems to leave him, it seems.

Volpe's House - April Fool's Day

-Despite Leone's zaps, Shun remains embedded in the floorboards, very much unresponsive.-

Team Iron Base - Past

Lucille: Sure.

-After a few moments of silence, she looks back up at Janet.-

Lucille: ...Have you ever actually read Simone? Her stuff's all very first-wave, of course, but it's still pretty relevant. Plus she was bi as fuck, which, yannow, respect.

Lumiose Pokemon Center

-Lucius looks over at Levi, reddening slightly.-

Lucius: Oh? What did you have in mind?

Edited by Herbert40k on Jul 4th 2018 at 2:23:09 PM

The GM House

-Doomsday shoves Selene into Ludmilla's room.-

Doomsday: <Go! Work your magic!>

Selene: Alright, alright! Stop shoving!

-Doomsday closes the door. Selene frowns before looking around - Ludmilla was curled up in bed. Or, rather, on the bed. She was curled up on top of her comforter.-

Selene: Hey, Ludmilla.

Ludmilla: -murf-

-Selene sits down on the bed next to the mumbling girl. She tilts her head.-

Selene: ~Something you want to talk about, sweetie?~

-Ludmilla almost jumps at the telepathic prompt. She curls up more.-

Ludmilla: ~... Yeah... I guess...~

Selene: ~Well, Auntie Selene is here for you.~

-The Clefable-turned-human rolls onto her belly to put her face next to the little girl's.-

Ludmilla: ~... Have you ever felt like... no matter how hard you fight... no matter how much you improve... your problems never seem to get smaller...?~

-Selene winces. Her thoughts turn for a second.-

Selene: ~All too well.~

Ludmilla: ~How do you deal with that...? Becoming champion of Alola was supposed to help make the Templars stop... but they just keep getting stronger... They won't go away...~

-Selene sighs, sits back up, and pulls the curled young girl onto her lap.-

Selene: ~Ludmilla, I'm gonna be straight with you. Life sucks. It REALLY sucks. But you know what you have to do?~

Ludmilla: ~Give up fighting and just let events happen?~

Selene: ~Nope.~

Ludmilla: ~Er... try and bargain with it...?~

Selene: ~Nope.~

Ludmilla: ~Um... you... tackle it...?~

Selene: ~And...?~

Ludmilla: ~Assert dominance?~

Selene: ~There ya go!~

-She jostles and tickles the little girl, startling her with the sudden surge of activity and getting her into a destress giggle fit.-

Selene: That's how your mommy and daddy made it work! They got stopped on their way to the altar, the both of them, but they put their foots - feet - whatever - down and they didn't let life give them lemons!

-The door slams open.-

DR. MOBIUS!: <THEY MADE LIFE TAKE THE LEMONS BACK!>

-Mao the Malamar bursts from the closet.-

Mao: <THEY SAID, I DON'T WANT YOUR DAMNED LEMONS, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THESE?!>

DR. MOBIUS!: <THEY DEMANDED TO SEE LIFE'S MANAGER!>

Mao: <THEY MADE COMBUSTIBLE LEMONS, JUST TO BURN LIFE'S HOUSE DOWN!>

DR. MOBIUS!: <COMBUSTIBLE LEMONS THAT EXPLODED TWICE!>

-At this point Ludmilla was a laughing wreck in Selene's lap.-

Selene: See, sweetie? The next time you see a Templar, what are you gonna do?

Ludmilla: Demand to see his manager!

Selene: And then?

Ludmilla: Tackle them to assert dominance!

DR. MOBIUS!: <AND THEN BURN HIS HOUSE DOWN!>

Mao: <WITH THE LEMONS!>

-Knock knock. Open the door, it's the United States Scarlette.-

Kai: Oh boy. All the complicated questions today. Uh, so, to preface, I'm genderfluid, and until I was like, 15, I thought I was 100% a boy. And, like... I knew I was attracted to guys from the moment I realized what romantic attraction was in the first place, because I had this huge crush on one of my neighbors, Thomas Wolf. Which, of course, I never said a fucking thing about. Wasn't until the J-Team came around when I met Psyche and realized "huh, maybe I'm attracted to girls after all". But like, Wolf was also on the J-Team, so I had to deal with that crush, and also Pent, and then Lucius came around at literally the exact point in my life where I started questioning gender shit, and now look at me.

Lumiose Streets

-Ever is wandering, Breeze and Pleth trailing after them-

Pleth: <You know, I've been meaning to ask.>

Breeze: <?>

Pleth: <Are you a mammal?>

Breeze: <What?>

Pleth: <...Like, is that soft stuff fur? Feathers?>

-...-

-...-

Breeze: <It's....it's down.>

Pleth: <What, like baby feathers?>

Breeze: <...No, like down.>

Pleth: <So you're a bird?>

Breeze: <...I'm a Chimecho.>

Pleth: <Yeah, but what is that?>

Breeze: <...What?>

Volpe's House

Leone continues poking Shun to no avail, before turning to his sister.

Leone: Do you think he's... dead, sor'?

Tigre looks over to the police officer embedded in the floor.

Tigre: Hmm... don't think so. But if he is, we can bring him back to life!

Leone makes a audible "oooh!" sound as he pops more popcorn into his mouth.

Leone: Like a wizard?

Tigre: Si! You know how in shows an' movies doctors bring people back to life by...

Tigre makes a gestures like she's using a defibrillator.

Tigre: ZAP! Si?

Leone copies his sister's movements, only in his case, he actually has clouds of Obscura covering his hands, charged with electricity.

Leone: ...ZAP! si?

Tigre: -Nodding furiously- Si! So! With your ZAP powers, we can bring Shun back to life.

The metaphorical over Leone's head feels almost tangible.

Leone: Si! Si!' ZAP signore Shun! Bring signore Shun back to life! Okay!

Leone rubs his hands together, mimicking a movie defibrillator.

Leone: Okay now...

Leone places his hands onto Shun.

Leone: ZAP!

These are nine year old kids who do not know what a defibrillator is used for, how to use it properly, and what amount of electricity is used in such a device.

Team Iron Base.

Janet perks up.

Janet: Of course I've read de Beauvoir! She's an essential piece in the history of feminism! I'd admit, I even tried to seek out authors who were inspired or similar to her and that's how I cam across Camille Paglia and - just a note of reference - don't read Camille Paglia she is often very, very wrong about... almost everything.

Janet laughs.

Janet: I gotta admit, I was also quite enamoured with the writings of Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf - even growing to know about the darker side of each of those women. You also gotta respect Woolf for being another lady who liked ladies, you know what I'm sayin'?

Janet thinks.

Janet: Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison were also two writers I heavily admired - "Beloved" is a fantastic story that haunts me to this day.

Lumiose Pokemon Center.

Levi: Weeeeeell~ Ya see, I was considerin' cookin' up this great big dinner for ya', Stumps! But-

Levi begins making wild gestures like he's playing charades.

Levi: Ya see, my pantry back at my pad isn't quite as stocked I would like it to be Plus there's also Sandy and Vyv to account for but I know someone who has a pantry that is overstuffed with things to cook with so I gotta ask~

Levi unhooks his arm from over Lucius's shoulder and places the back of his hand on his cheek.

Levi: Howdya' like to meet the other significant other~?

"Pal. I'm Fae, that much is obvious, thus I have my own unique spin on things," Denali explained.

"As for them accepting Berry Baskets from some ex-cipher goon. You're rather self centered in your thinking, yes this is about you. No they're not going to think like you. Didn't you leave them BECAUSE they were accepting ex-cipher goons? Wasn't that the entire point of your overblown tantrum that let you join a team-"

Denali dropped the human guise and floated right over to Lucius and looked him straight in the eyes, the look Denali gave was unforgiving, <That wanted to NERVE GAS ME?!>

Denali huffed and floated back over to their seat and resumed human form, "You're thinking that they'll all be like you. I want to help Lucius but I'm going to be blunt, this is rather self centered to think that wouldn't forgive you because you wouldn't forgive you. They're gonna give you shit, rightly so, but look at me. I want to help you, and as I demonstrated, I have ample reason to be mad."

A bottle of water was floated over by a gem hand, "Thirsty?"

Silas blew out the candles and smirked, another year of existence completed, and so much interesting things had happened, "Wonder what the next year will be like."

Volpe's House - April Fool's Day

-Thankfully, it's not the volts that kill you, it's the amps. That doesn't mean they don't hurt like hell, though.-

Shun: GAH!

-He jumps out of the floorboards and narrowly avoids embedding himself in the ceiling before falling back to the floor, charred and hissing.-

Shun: Let's... let's maybe stop with the games for now...

Team Iron Base - Past

-Lucille smirks.-

Lucille: Heh, for a so-called "country girl" you're better read than I am. None of my tutors ever mentioned that about Woolf.

Denali's Office - Past

-Lucius doesn't take the glass, mostly because he's currently curled up in the corner with his one hand shaking too violently to hold much of anything. When he does speak, it comes out as a high-pitched squeak.-

Lucius: ...N-no thank you, I'm g-good.

Lumiose Pokemon Center

-Lucius goes even redder at Levi's touch.-

Lucius: Um... wow. That's, uh... I mean, I'd sure like to meet him, and he sounds like a chill dude and all, but I'm still kinda nervous since it's my first time doing... y'know, this.

-He gestures vaguely with his arm, at which point his gaze falls on Scarlette.-

Lucius: Oh, hey Scar! C'mon in, we were just... talking.

Edited by Herbert40k on Jul 4th 2018 at 3:14:00 PM

-Scarlette waves.-

-Something's different about her. She seems like she's a lot brighter and happier than she used to be.-

-Oh shit, she got a haircut. That's what's different. She got her hair cut, and cut short. Full boyish pixie cut.-

Scarlette: Hey, Luce. Who's this?

Denali whistles and sets the bottle down, "Wow. Did a number on you. Weren't expecting that love? That the therapist is a Mythic/Legendary who's understandably upset? Happens."

Denali stretched and picked up their notepad, "So. Lucius, wanna try again with small step constructive relationship patching? People can forgive, you just gotta work hard."

Volpe's House

Both Tigre and Leone's ear-like tufts flatten somewhat.

Tigre: Aww, no more games?

Leone: But! But I didn't get to play any games with signore!

Leone zaps Tigre.

Leone: This is your fault, sor'!

Tigre yelps before glaring at her brother.

Tigre: My fault? You weren't even paying attention to when signore was teaching us his game, fra'!

She pinches Leone, who yelps.

Leone: Yeah! Well! You're just a big, dumb, mean girl who ruins others fun, sor'!

The electrocution becomes strong.

Tigre: GYAH! Well, you're an even dumber, stupid, zappy boy!

This quickly emerges into a full out fight, only with two kids who are way more powerful than they have any right to be.

Team Iron Base

Janet laughs.

Janet: Well, I certainly didn't read all these books on the farm, Lucille. Mostly it was just... farm related stuff. I expanded my reading list from books about handling Miltanks and shearing Mareeps to more theoretical stuff when I left for the city...

Janet looks out.

Janet: ...On my own...

Lumiose Pokemon Center.

Levi blinks as he looks over to Scarlette.

Levi: Oh hello! I don't think we two particular people have ever met before. You a friend of Stumps over here?

He gestures with his bad hand to Lucius, before holding out said bad hand with the missing ring and pinkie fingers in Scarlette's direction.

Levi: Name's Levi, I'm Stumps boyfriend - basically.

Edited by PippingFool on Jul 5th 2018 at 12:29:52 AM

Lumiose - Past

Elizabeth: "You turned out...fine?"

Volpe's House - April Fool's Day

-Shun just curls up into a ball and tries to avoid becoming collateral damage.-

Shun: At least Interpol offers hazard pay...

Team Iron Base - Past

-For once, Lucille reaches out to Janet, her hand hovering awkwardly before patting her on the knee.-

Lucille: Not on great terms with your folks either, huh? If you don't mind me asking, that is.

Denali's Office - Past

-Lucius uncurls slightly.-

Lucius: Uh... apology B-Berry baskets?

Lumiose Pokemon Center

-Lucius goes even redder as he nods at Levi.-

Lucius: Uh, yeah. Scar, this is Levi. Levi, this is Scar. She was my best friend back in... well, she's one of my best friends, let's just say that.

-There's an awkward pause.-

Lucius: ...I like what you've done with your hair.

Edited by Herbert40k on Jul 4th 2018 at 3:34:38 PM

"I thought you just said they probably wouldn't accept those. But that is a acceptable step one, start small, work your way bigger," Denali responded happily.

"And I'm sorry for scaring you, sometimes though a jolt is needed to achieve a result. I'd say the result so far is quite receptive."

Scarlette: Hey, nice to meet you. "Scar"'s short for Scarlette, for reference.

-She smiles-

Scarlette: I figured I needed to finally chop off that big tangled mess of hair I used to have. Gods, what a fucking mess. Besides, how else am I gonna tell people I'm a huge lesbian without actually talking to them?

Kai: If you think I'm the slightest bit Functional Bisexual you're sorely mistaken, I'm a complete romantic disaster.

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Jul 4th 2018 at 10:43:23 AM

R S M factory

Shinobi: <Alright, if you're sure>

-He nods, and continues on with the others until-

-And when the voice calls and the figure waves, the currently pink greninja headtilts and gets a little closer-

<Uh? Yo, who are you?>

Stormchaser, Past

I've heard good things about homebrew.

-He smiles and takes a cupcake to nibble on-

Volpe's House

You think you were safe from collateral damage Shun?

Think again.

Tigre: Why are you just so dumb, Leo!?

Tigre throws the entire fridge at her brother.

Leone: STOP CALLING ME DUMB, TIG!

Leone zaps through the entire fridge and an offshoot seems to be on course for hitting Shun.

Team Iron Base

Janet: Well, I...

Janet sighs, and looks down.

Janet: Heh, ya see- not only was I a middle child of five kids. I was also the only girl of a family of boys. Me two older brothers, me two kid brothers, Ma and Pa... And we were close, yannow, the way country people are...

Janet sighs.

Janet: I... I grew up in a small farmin' village, where everyone is real close to each other, not like in the city. You invite the butcher over for dinner, you celebrate the 'hols with the grocer, you go to church with the sheriff. That kind of tight knit community.

And you know, small country towns have small country values. And you know the reputation of what "small country values" tend to entail...

Janet toys with her empty mug.

Janet: I... I never came out to me folks, or me brothers, I was too scared to. To afraid of what could happen if I did and, and I just felt like I had to get out of there as soon as possible. I said to them that I just wanted to travel the world and see all these places and all that and they chalked it up to Middle Child Syndrome thankfully. Sayin' that they'd support me no matter what and that there is always a warm bed and hot pot of tea waiting for me should I ever come home...

Herdier whines.

Janet: I never did go back home... Can't even remember the last time I talked to my Ma or Pa - or my brothers. Closest I even been to bein' back home was when I went to [Tenby] last summer. the place where my family always used ta go to back in the summer...

Janet gets somewhat nostalgic and melancholic.

Lumiose City Pokemon Center.

Levi chuckles

Levi: All you need now is the plaid, leather jacket and enamel pins! Maybe a few extra ear piercings here or there! And then you can really advertise your lesbian energy to the world without the need of actual conversation!

Levi snaps his good hand into a finger gun position.

Edited by PippingFool on Jul 6th 2018 at 1:25:31 AM

Volpe's House - April Fool's Day

Shun: AAAAH!

-Shun attempts to dart for cover, but doesn't quite make it - two pieces of fridge shrapnel slice through his cuffs and pin his sleeves (and him by extension) to the kitchen wall, bringing him back to his senses somewhat.-

Shun: Okay, you're supposed to be the authority here, act like it... Both of you, cut it-

-A flying slice of Miltank flank hits him square in the face.-

Team Iron Base - Past

Lucille: Ah...

-After a few moments, she puts an arm around Janet's shoulder.-

Lucille: Just a thought, but... hey, maybe we oughta go to [Tenby] one day. Yannow, if we ever get outta this place.

Denali's Office - Past

-Lucius nods at Denali.-

Lucius: That's, um, that's good! At least, I think that's good. We've made good progress today okay see you next week bye

-He quickly darts out of the door on all fours threes.-

Lumiose Pokemon Center

-Lucius smirks at Scarlette.-

Lucius: Levi's got the right idea. Leather would suit you.

-He looks back at Levi.-

Lucius: So, uh... you reckon X would be okay with two guests?

Lumiose - Past

Elizabeth: "This doesn't fill me with confidence."

-Scarlette grins-

Scarlette: I'm already gonna go for the flannel, but I'll have to think about the leather. I'm more of a denim jacket gal. Hard "no" on the piercings, though, not a fan of things piercing my skin. For reasons.

-She waves her stub arm.-

Scarlette: But yeah, sure, I'd be up for meeting whoever your friend X is, if that's all right. Just toss me one of those bottles first.

-Kai gives Elizabeth a sheepish look.-

Kai: Sorry, I'm bad at this. You want someone to fill you with confidence, ask Diane. She's the one with her life in order.