00X. Action/Fourth Wall

[nullorvoid]

[So this place just went insane over the last couple of days.

While it'd normally be enough to send Ginti back to the network, wanting to know exactly what's going on and perhaps more importantly why we all have weirdass powers bestowed on us by the powers that be this weekend, the fact that he's also feeling kind of different lately is more than enough to make him pause before he does it; beyond that, it's a matter of verifying that his eyes are back to the way they should be and time doesn't feel like it's passing for him physically anymore because it quite simply isn't (and that's one of the weirdest things he's experienced here, it's just not something he's wanted to put into words for anyone) and, well.

He's always carrying some sort of water supply on him, even here, because old habits die hard; it's been a while since he's gotten to use it; it isn't long before he's found a route and Prima's sent out and he's trading blows with her at very high speed – not physically, but rather through his own particular brand of slightly less-broken waterbending bullshit. It's fairly obvious that they're not aiming to do any actual damage – Prima is a little slip of a Horsea still but she'd probably manage to ruin a human's day if she really felt the need to do it, and Ginti can very definitely ruin people's days if he really feels the need to do it, but as it is this is looking to be one of the few things Ginti has enjoyed doing since he got here.

Because god, humanization sucks.

So if you want to talk to him...well, he's probably going to be soaked as fuck by the time he's done messing with his Pokémon over there but at the very least he won't mind the sudden approach half as much as he usually does, and sometimes that's about as much as anyone can ask for.]

Comments

[novemdux]

[That earns Ginti a sidelong stare for a long moment before she eventually decides to take that answer, unfolding her arms to instead thread them beneath the bands of her suspenders.]

Alright. So humans are being brought to this place too, for seemingly no reason.

[nullorvoid]

She's a dragon.

[...]

I know it sounds stupid but she's a damn dragon.

[novemdux]

You could have just told me that.

[Ginti was that so hard.]

What I really wanted to know was that if just humans were here other than you and I, but it sounds like that isn't the case.

[And now her expression is back to being serious, thoughtful too because wow this is the strangest thing she's ever encountered and for once she does not know what to do with it.

Eventually she lifts a hand, counting off on her fingers without looking his way directly.]

People can't die. Time doesn't flow as it should. Both humans and...not exist here.

What else can you tell me about this place, if anything?

[nullorvoid]

...You're just...okay with the idea that dragons exist.

[#PRIORITIES.]

[novemdux]

[She just...tilts her head a little at that.]

Well, you seemed to be getting along with yours just fine.

[...DRAGON, SEAHORSE, it breathes water for goodness sake it might as well be a dragon too]

[nullorvoid]

That's...!

[.....................]

...Okay, okay, point.

[novemdux]

...if it makes you feel any better, I just assumed a stray cat had decided to follow me around.

[She looks over her shoulder at the still napping Purrloin as she says this, shrugging a bit. A stray...purple cat, which is fine.]

Are these creatures common here, then?

[nullorvoid]

What, those? Yeah. Everyone gets one to start with, I've got maybe six or seven by now? Apparently that one decided she's yours.

[novemdux]

[...you know she probably shouldn't be surprised, given the case of Memine, but...here she is, surprised.]

Why do you have so many?

[nullorvoid]

Trust me, that's not a lot. I've been staying in this one stupid vacation town or something, and there are a lot of tourists. There's this one woman who's staying at the hotel, and I never want to see that many cats that look weirdly like poodles in one place ever again.

[novemdux]

[Well that's not a sentence she ever thought she'd hear him say.]

You would think there would be a law against that sort of thing.

[BUT YOU KNOW. Definitely not in Rule-breaking McBackwards Ville.]

[nullorvoid]

[there were so many i mean they were really cute but what do you even do with that many poodlecats]

Some people breed them, so I kind of get why there isn't.

[novemdux]

[She scuffs a foot against the ground, her brows knitting.]

As entertaining as that must be, you and I have jobs to get back to. Important ones.

So tell me what happens when someone tries to leave this place, assuming it's even possible.

[nullorvoid]

[Yes, yes, he knows...]

It's not possible, as far as we know. I was kind of thinking you'd probably be able to figure it out.

[You know everything, right.]

[novemdux]

[AGAIN, THAT'S REALLY FLATTERING, BUT...]

Aw. You really think that highly of me, Ginti?

[She's not saying she can't, but she's certainly not saying she can.]

[nullorvoid]

Nah, I just think the challenge is going to piss you off until you figure something out.

[MAYBE A BIT LESS FLATTERING THAN YOU THOUGHT]

[novemdux]

[Well, he's not wrong.]

That bad?

Well, if that's the case, then I'll have something worked out eventually. I don't mind a good challenge every now and then.

[I mean good lord, how many times has she kicked Oculus' ass at pool. ...not that she considers that a challenge to begin with.]

[nullorvoid]

[See, you are totally the best...whatever you call someone who created you that isn't "mom" because that's not totally accurate also making it weird.]

Well, hopefully it's something you're a natural at, because this place isn't usually nice to us like this.

[...hopefully you remember what he said about there being a lot of weird because there's still more weird, um]

[novemdux]

Isn't that what makes a challenge challenging?

[Well she's already encountered dragons so how much worse can it get...?]

Even if I'm not, I'll keep trying until I figure it out. And even if things aren't being left to their own devices back at the Tower, I don't want to just assume that to be true.

[Not only that, but she doesn't like the thought of leaving Decim back there by himself to...do as Decim does. But he'll be fine for a while, hopefully. Ginti's the real one she would have been concerned about, but here she can keep a proper eye on him.]

[nullorvoid]

...Okay, but I need to tell you that I've got no idea what broke here over the last couple of days but usually everything that isn't human is made that way when they show up.

[SO HOPEFULLY YOUR WHATEVER-IT-IS-YOU-DO DOESN'T RELY ON BEING AN ARBITER FOR YOU TO DO IT, IS WHAT HE'S SAYING.]

[novemdux]

[.....excuse me, what.]

....Usually? ...you've been living as a human?

[Ginti wouldn't lie about something like that, not with how he feels about humans but nO THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN??]

[nullorvoid]

What, you think I'd make something like that up?!

[HUMANS ARE SO DUMB THOUGH NONA IF HE WAS GOING TO MAKE SOMETHING UP HE'D AT LEAST MAKE IT LESS INSULTING]

[novemdux]

No! But that doesn't happen. It can't happen.

[She looks up at him sharply, pulling her arms from behind her suspenders to let them hang at her sides. There's a pause before she says anything else, if only to be sure that nobody is around in their immediate vicinity that could be eavesdropping.]

Even in a world where time doesn't flow as it should and people can't die. Arbiters cannot be human.

[Her eyes search his face for a moment, as if trying to find some evidence that he's just doing an insanely good job somehow of pulling the wool over her eyes, but she can't see it. He's telling the truth, and it's...

She leans back, taking a breath. Arbiters can be taught about humanity. They can go through the motions. (Even so far as emotions, in Decim's case) But...

All at once she reaches back up, grabbing Ginti's shoulder by the sleeve so she can yank him down to eye level with her.]

And you're no longer human now due to forces you can't explain. How long do you think that's going to last?

[nullorvoid]

[And yank him down she does; he was kind of expecting it but that doesn't make the motion any less jarring, and his words are quick and agitated when he speaks.]

I don't know! I don't know, okay?!

[He shifts a bit, not...exactly trying to pull away from her because he damn well knows better, but at the same time making it abundantly clear that he'd like it.]

You think it hasn't been stressing me out?! We can't be alive, we can't have feelings, we can't do anything but serve our purpose because that's why we were created, I get it and I don't know what's going on or if this is going to fuck things up when I go back, I...I get it, and if I had any answers for you I'd be giving them to you right now, but I don't, okay?

[novemdux]

[Nona holds Ginti fast for another second or two before letting him go, straightening back up again. Yelling at Ginti for things he can't control isn't going to make the problem magically resolve itself, and she knows it.

She's not sure how to ask this without it being awkward, so she just goes on with it.]

Have you been handling it alright?

[Not being able to die here probably helps, but honestly she can't even imagine what sort of hell it's been for Ginti to have to endure the past month or so.]