[When Flowey and Cedric first delivered Shoka and Siffrin to the clinic, Shoka, after insisting more than once in a weary, closed-off voice that she was fine, thanks, had curled up like a cat and gone straight to sleep. There she remained for several days, dead to world as the staff saw to the wounds in her disguise (and her shadows, too, as best they could). There were many such wounds—rips and tears in the fabric, along with spots where it had gone threadbare and sagged—and when she sprung from the fog to attack, wild-eyed and murderous, her true form appeared to be composed of more static than shadows, but miraculously none of her injuries were severe. Judging by that and the way her body shut down almost immediately at the first glimpse of a bed, what she needed most of all was rest.
When Flowey comes to visit this time, she's finally awake again. She sits propped up in her cot with her phone in her claws, scrolling dazedly through her photos. She looks much less ragged than before (albeit more patchwork than usual, emergency swaths of not-quite-black-enough fabric still covering the holes in her shroud) and she's clearly much more alert, too. Spotting Flowey, she sits up a little straighter, ears perking up.]
Oh. Hey...
[For once, she has no playful quip at the ready for him—no look what the Torracat dragged in or even a mock-annoyed eyeroll. There's some trepidation in her hoarse voice, like she isn't sure that he'll be happy to see her awake. The last time they saw each other, she'd greeted him by lunging at him claws-first, after all.]
It's not fair to yell at her for getting lost or attacking them-- it wasn't her fault. Tons of his friends have tried to kill him. Still, he has the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her around and yell.
Oh, well. No hands.]
Howdy.
[He remembers shadows like static, and a primal terror he hasn't felt since he wondered what would happen if he died with no soul, and a fight that felt like it lasted both a second and a year. He remembers dragging her back to the clinic and yelling at the staff to handle her disguise with care.
And he remembers a dream they shared months ago, where his disguise was pulled off and she saw something that left him so humiliated that he didn't care (really, he didn't) when she went on the quest with Siffrin instead of him.
But now, here they are.]
Here. Eat this.
[He manages to pass her a Sitrus Berry.
A few months ago, his impulse would've been to antagonize her until she forgot he ever was an innocent kid. But he's past that type of thing. Really.]
Those morons patched up your disguise like crap. And it still has those weird pink hairs all over it.
Oh, wow. [A Sitrus instead of an Oran? Luxurious!] Thanks...
[Her phone disappears under her patchwork disguise; she takes the berry in hand. She seems more interested in staring at the thing than eating it, turning it over silently in her claws as if to appraise its quality. Flowey speaks up again before she can take a bite.
His observation immediately shatters the tension (at least for her). She laughs under her breath.]
Serves me right, don't you think? [The patched up like crap disguise, that is. The weird pink hairs are a gift that someone who turns on her own friends doesn't deserve, of course.] How're you... holding up, by the way?
How am I doing? [He sticks out his tongue-- a little more playful, but not exactly earnest.] You sure did a number on me, Suckarane! But don't worry, I've been through FAR worse. [Dying, for instance.] And it was worth it to beat up Siffrin, hee hee!
[That, of course, is a very generous interpretation of events.
Pokemon can heal quickly. His leaves grow back with a morning of sunlight. The scratches and dents in his outer shell mend when he sleeps. What doesn't heal as quickly are the mental scars. The smile slowly fades from his face.]
... Don't talk about what 'serves you right' or any of that crap. It could've been anyone who got teleported randomly into the fog by those complete idiots. It was their fault, not yours.
[It would've served him right to get killed. But he's still here.]
I'm just glad you're okay. When I learned what happened, I... don't know. It's not like I can REALLY care. But I couldn't stop thinking about finding you. Siffrin, too, even though they piss me off every single moment of my life. [He doesn't want things to change. Even if he can't love them, he wants them to love him-- as Hatenna put it. He wants them to stay. Is that so wrong? Is that so different?]
Oh. So it's their fault I beat up on all those Pokémon, including you? They made me do all that? That's a relief!
[Her voice is thick with bitter sarcasm. Even if she was trapped in the fog, she knows how perceptions shift when inside it. She should have known to doubt what she was seeing and hold herself back, but she was so tired, so angry, and she had to make sure Siffrin made it out of there...
I'm just glad you're okay, says Flowey. I couldn't stop thinking about finding you. Shoka's eyes lock onto him, wide and disbelieving, before they drift away, toward the end of her cot.
That's right. It had startled her to realize back in the fog, too: he and Cedric were looking for them. For her. Polteageist must have asked it of them, but at the same time, at least in Flowey's case, he was worried for her. Or whatever the closest thing to worried Flowey can be, anyway.
She disappeared, and he came looking for her. People thought of her, were concerned for her. The way Noelle had hardly left her side since she returned, huddling against her like right next to her still wasn't close enough, should have made it obvious, but the knowledge still feels completely alien. She doesn't know how to deal with it. No one came looking for her before, after all.
Another soft laugh escapes under her breath.]
... I'd say I'm glad you're okay, too. But y'know, I'm not so sure you are okay now... [Because he's being way too nice to her, is the teasing implication. She holds the Sitrus berry aloft.] Did you hide a Blast Seed inside this, or what?
Take a bite and find out. [There isn't one. Why is she saying this? Why isn't she eating it? He knows he's an asshole, but come on.]
... Shoka. Don't you remember what you said to me all those months ago? "Maybe people don't need to have a point for caring about someone else." [It's been a long journey to get here, and he's screwed up a ton since then, but he's starting to understand.] I can't really care about you. But I don't... not care either-- ugh, that sounds stupid.
Maybe it wasn't your fault. Maybe it was. Maybe you could've known better. Maybe you could've done better.
It doesn't matter. It's over. It's done.
[He looks at her.]
What matters is moving on. Doing better. Talking about blame... about what we 'deserve'... well. None of the Pokemon here are cruel enough to give either of us that. [He gives a brief, wry smile.] So there's no point in focusing on it.
[Her hand lowers as she stares at him, still a little bewildered. The tired, guilt-ridden part of her hates that he's using her own (stupid, sappy) words against her. The stronger part of her is struck by the realization that he listened to and remembered what she said at all.]
... You've really been thinking hard about all this, huh?
[He's changed so much since she first met him (in the rain; in the Underground). Changed so much since they had that conversation, even. Has he noticed?
A silence comes to sit between them for a moment, before she finally pulls the Sitrus berry under her disguise. There's no explosions or raking of sharp thorns as it disappears into the void of her unseen maw; it's just smooth, and flavorful, and delicious. Of course it is. The exhaustion, the guilt, and the fear are still there, but she feels a little more strength returning to her.]
Wow. You seriously passed up your best chance to actually get back at me... Your loss, I guess!
[Her eyes soften before the drift away from him again.]
... Thanks. For coming to look for us. And... for not not caring. It... means a lot to me.
[It means a lot to him, too. Nobody really understands, but Shoka comes close.
His smile flickers. Is she going to bring up the dream..? He can't bring himself to be the first one to do it. Maybe she thinks he forgot. Maybe she's also emotionally exhausted after all that sincerity.]
Maybe being all nice is how I'm getting back at you. Did you ever think of that? [He sneers, taking comfort in his typical mockery.]
Or maybe I just knew that you'd be expecting me to get revenge right away, so I'm biding my time. Waiting until you least expect it. And then... [He might think of a good prank eventually. Or maybe not.] ... hee hee hee. Tremble in terror until that moment!
[She only notices after she's already said it. At Flowey's reply (quiet, almost petulant, like he's tattling on her to Mom for not playing fair again), her eyes go wide for a moment, then soften again.]
Obvi. I could just fly outta the way, right?
[She averts her gaze.]
... My bad. I didn't mean to—... [Bring that up? Say something weird?] I didn't know if you remembered that or not.
[He's uncharacteristically quiet, as if he's lost in thought. It was just a dream. But the fact that his mind was able to slot her into the 'best friend' role so quickly is troubling to him-- and it's humiliating, too. He feels like he's pinned down beneath a microscope.]
I wish I didn't.
[In any other circumstance, he'd run away. But he's already come this far.]
... I hate thinking about that kid. The one I used to be. The one everyone back home would have wanted me to be again. [Did Shoka like him better that way? He can't imagine anyone would prefer a soulless little jerk like him.] How many years has it been...? I lost count in all the resets. But even after all that time...
[He still dreams about those simpler days, which he both longs for and cringes at. Before his memories return to him, he might even try to reach out his arms or legs. He might let that feeling of being ensouled, being able to love, linger before realizing that it's gone.]
[The teasing reply is already in her throat. Ooh, ouch. Don't tell me that having me as a sister was that bad.
But she knows what he means, even before he explains. She manages to keep it to herself.]
... For what it's worth, I don't love remembering what I used to be like either. [But that's nowhere near the level of change he went through, and she would be lying if she said that she wished she didn't remember the dream. For her, for the most part, it was a good one.] You dream about that a lot?
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friendlyflower) wrote2025-05-26 09:32 pm
action
When Flowey comes to visit this time, she's finally awake again. She sits propped up in her cot with her phone in her claws, scrolling dazedly through her photos. She looks much less ragged than before (albeit more patchwork than usual, emergency swaths of not-quite-black-enough fabric still covering the holes in her shroud) and she's clearly much more alert, too. Spotting Flowey, she sits up a little straighter, ears perking up.]
Oh. Hey...
[For once, she has no playful quip at the ready for him—no look what the Torracat dragged in or even a mock-annoyed eyeroll. There's some trepidation in her hoarse voice, like she isn't sure that he'll be happy to see her awake. The last time they saw each other, she'd greeted him by lunging at him claws-first, after all.]
no subject
It's not fair to yell at her for getting lost or attacking them-- it wasn't her fault. Tons of his friends have tried to kill him. Still, he has the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her around and yell.
Oh, well. No hands.]
Howdy.
[He remembers shadows like static, and a primal terror he hasn't felt since he wondered what would happen if he died with no soul, and a fight that felt like it lasted both a second and a year. He remembers dragging her back to the clinic and yelling at the staff to handle her disguise with care.
And he remembers a dream they shared months ago, where his disguise was pulled off and she saw something that left him so humiliated that he didn't care (really, he didn't) when she went on the quest with Siffrin instead of him.
But now, here they are.]
Here. Eat this.
[He manages to pass her a Sitrus Berry.
A few months ago, his impulse would've been to antagonize her until she forgot he ever was an innocent kid. But he's past that type of thing. Really.]
Those morons patched up your disguise like crap. And it still has those weird pink hairs all over it.
no subject
[Her phone disappears under her patchwork disguise; she takes the berry in hand. She seems more interested in staring at the thing than eating it, turning it over silently in her claws as if to appraise its quality. Flowey speaks up again before she can take a bite.
His observation immediately shatters the tension (at least for her). She laughs under her breath.]
Serves me right, don't you think? [The patched up like crap disguise, that is. The weird pink hairs are a gift that someone who turns on her own friends doesn't deserve, of course.] How're you... holding up, by the way?
1/2
[That, of course, is a very generous interpretation of events.
Pokemon can heal quickly. His leaves grow back with a morning of sunlight. The scratches and dents in his outer shell mend when he sleeps. What doesn't heal as quickly are the mental scars. The smile slowly fades from his face.]
2/2
[It would've served him right to get killed. But he's still here.]
I'm just glad you're okay. When I learned what happened, I... don't know. It's not like I can REALLY care. But I couldn't stop thinking about finding you. Siffrin, too, even though they piss me off every single moment of my life. [He doesn't want things to change. Even if he can't love them, he wants them to love him-- as Hatenna put it. He wants them to stay. Is that so wrong? Is that so different?]
no subject
Oh. So it's their fault I beat up on all those Pokémon, including you? They made me do all that? That's a relief!
[Her voice is thick with bitter sarcasm. Even if she was trapped in the fog, she knows how perceptions shift when inside it. She should have known to doubt what she was seeing and hold herself back, but she was so tired, so angry, and she had to make sure Siffrin made it out of there...
I'm just glad you're okay, says Flowey. I couldn't stop thinking about finding you. Shoka's eyes lock onto him, wide and disbelieving, before they drift away, toward the end of her cot.
That's right. It had startled her to realize back in the fog, too: he and Cedric were looking for them. For her. Polteageist must have asked it of them, but at the same time, at least in Flowey's case, he was worried for her. Or whatever the closest thing to worried Flowey can be, anyway.
She disappeared, and he came looking for her. People thought of her, were concerned for her. The way Noelle had hardly left her side since she returned, huddling against her like right next to her still wasn't close enough, should have made it obvious, but the knowledge still feels completely alien. She doesn't know how to deal with it. No one came looking for her before, after all.
Another soft laugh escapes under her breath.]
... I'd say I'm glad you're okay, too. But y'know, I'm not so sure you are okay now... [Because he's being way too nice to her, is the teasing implication. She holds the Sitrus berry aloft.] Did you hide a Blast Seed inside this, or what?
1/2
... Shoka. Don't you remember what you said to me all those months ago? "Maybe people don't need to have a point for caring about someone else." [It's been a long journey to get here, and he's screwed up a ton since then, but he's starting to understand.] I can't really care about you. But I don't... not care either-- ugh, that sounds stupid.
2/2
Maybe it wasn't your fault. Maybe it was. Maybe you could've known better. Maybe you could've done better.
It doesn't matter. It's over. It's done.
[He looks at her.]
What matters is moving on. Doing better. Talking about blame... about what we 'deserve'... well. None of the Pokemon here are cruel enough to give either of us that. [He gives a brief, wry smile.] So there's no point in focusing on it.
no subject
... You've really been thinking hard about all this, huh?
[He's changed so much since she first met him (in the rain; in the Underground). Changed so much since they had that conversation, even. Has he noticed?
A silence comes to sit between them for a moment, before she finally pulls the Sitrus berry under her disguise. There's no explosions or raking of sharp thorns as it disappears into the void of her unseen maw; it's just smooth, and flavorful, and delicious. Of course it is. The exhaustion, the guilt, and the fear are still there, but she feels a little more strength returning to her.]
Wow. You seriously passed up your best chance to actually get back at me... Your loss, I guess!
[Her eyes soften before the drift away from him again.]
... Thanks. For coming to look for us. And... for not not caring. It... means a lot to me.
no subject
His smile flickers. Is she going to bring up the dream..? He can't bring himself to be the first one to do it. Maybe she thinks he forgot. Maybe she's also emotionally exhausted after all that sincerity.]
Maybe being all nice is how I'm getting back at you. Did you ever think of that? [He sneers, taking comfort in his typical mockery.]
Or maybe I just knew that you'd be expecting me to get revenge right away, so I'm biding my time. Waiting until you least expect it. And then... [He might think of a good prank eventually. Or maybe not.] ... hee hee hee. Tremble in terror until that moment!
no subject
[Emotionally exhausted is right (along with regular exhausted), but that rare, gentle tone is still lingering in her voice when she continues:]
Ooh, consider me terrified. What're you gonna do? Use Chaos Saber on me?
[She isn't even purposefully trying to bring up their shared dream. It just slips out automatically, like she's been teasing him about it for years.]
no subject
He's silent for a moment.]
... You'd just protect yourself with Gryphus Cantus. [His voice is smaller, now.]
no subject
Obvi. I could just fly outta the way, right?
[She averts her gaze.]
... My bad. I didn't mean to—... [Bring that up? Say something weird?] I didn't know if you remembered that or not.
no subject
I wish I didn't.
[In any other circumstance, he'd run away. But he's already come this far.]
... I hate thinking about that kid. The one I used to be. The one everyone back home would have wanted me to be again. [Did Shoka like him better that way? He can't imagine anyone would prefer a soulless little jerk like him.] How many years has it been...? I lost count in all the resets. But even after all that time...
[He still dreams about those simpler days, which he both longs for and cringes at. Before his memories return to him, he might even try to reach out his arms or legs. He might let that feeling of being ensouled, being able to love, linger before realizing that it's gone.]
no subject
But she knows what he means, even before he explains. She manages to keep it to herself.]
... For what it's worth, I don't love remembering what I used to be like either. [But that's nowhere near the level of change he went through, and she would be lying if she said that she wished she didn't remember the dream. For her, for the most part, it was a good one.] You dream about that a lot?