ohmyarceus | Test Drive Meme

[The person Odile's asking is a perfectly normal, reasonably helpful trainer! Nothing odd about her.]

[It's the person behind her, in the same sightline, that's frozen like a rabbit in headlights. You know, the one with the big ol' wizard hat? And the eyepatch? The one staring at Odile like they've seen a ghost?]

[Loop rapidly glances behind themself for an escape route. Odile is probably the absolute worst possible person they could have run into!! How is she here??]

[Unfortunately for them, they're also surrounded by a full squadron of Pokemon - two of which, a Metang and Type: Null, are on the larger side. It, uh. Cuts down on their options.]

[Loop shuffles sideways, not-very-hopefully banking on being able to hide behind their Type: Null. It's probably already too late, though.]

[Maybe it's the movement that catches Odile's attention, or maybe it's the way the sun gleams off the metallic parts of some Loop's Pokemon... Whatever the case, she doesn't really hear anything of the answer she's given about the library. She ignores the trainer completely, in fact, leaning around her.]

'Frin?

At first, she smiles seeing them, because of course she does - she cares for them, and so the reaction is natural.

But it doesn't take long for that smile to... Not fade, exactly, but shift in a more curious direction. Last she saw Siffrin was with the rest of their companions, high up in the castle, after they'd all decided to keep traveling together a bit longer. After Siffrin's fears of being left behind and forgotten had come to light.

So it doesn't... make sense... that they'd hide?]

[Hahaha uh oh. BUSTED.]

[Think fast, Loop!! Odile is about to catch them and find out they were Siffrin and, and, all at the same time - (And then probably kill them when she finds out they tried to murder Siffrin. Which, you know! Fair!! For the best, even!!)]

[...wait. Hang on.]

[They look like they used to, which is part of the reason they're trying not to panic. But unless stardust told her... does she have any reason to guess that they're Loop?]

[...]

[This is a great idea. Absolutely could not go wrong in any possible way. Especially not with Odile.]

[Quick, Loop, what's a reason you could be ducking behind your Pokemon - maybe if they pretend they were always intending to untie one of Meeple's saddlebags? Yeah. Sling that over their shoulder, try to remember what their smile used to look like. Plaster it on their face. Then come trotting out toward madame Researcher, hand raised in a wave.]

Odile!! Is everyone else with you?

[Please don't mind their outright menagerie. There's a sleeping Quilava draped over their shoulders and a Noibat clinging to their back, and then following them are a Banette, the Metang, and the Type:Null. The Metang in particular is glancing between Loop and Odile intently, but also gives Odile a cheerful wave as they get close.]

[Something feels off in how Siffrin is acting, but it's hard for Odile to put her finger on it. They're behaving more or less like Siffrin, it's just... Hm. Well. Something is wrong.

She has the feeling Mirabelle or Isabeau would be able to place it. But Odile has been bad at noticing when something is off with her young companions time and again, when something has them upset... And now she thinks maybe she's noticed, but she can't figure it out.

There's guilt there, especially after everything that's happened. She even finds herself wincing when Siffrin asks if the others are there.

But she can't focus on that. She has nowhere to go with it, right now. It would be pointless. She can only ask.] No, it's- just me. Are you doing alright, Siffrin?

[There's genuine concern on her face. Were it just the two of them, she'd put her hand on their shoulder, but they're in public and that kind of display doesn't sit right with her.

There's also a Pokemon taking up that space, to be fair. There are a lot of Pokemon with them, actually. Meanwhile, Odile has a modest team of two. She suspects she's more conservative than most with her captures, just from what she's noticed, but the team 'Frin is with still doesn't quite make sense to her. They all look stronger than Zel or even Dee, who's already undergone one evolution...

Odile looks right. Into. Siffrin's eye.]

Siffrin... How long have you been here?

Edited 2025-04-28 22:17 (UTC)

[It. It feels strange.]

[To be called Siffrin again. To have Odile directing a look of concern at them.]

[They don't have to feign their disappointment, or their smile dropping some, when Odile says that she's alone. What a weird feeling, to have that and the terror of being found out at the same time. The relief that stardust isn't here to break the illusion, but also the sudden awareness of a silver coin burning a hole in their pocket.]

[Are they doing alright? They don't know how to answer that.]

[But how long they've been here? That's easy. There's no reason to keep that a secret - actually, it'll probably help if they say it, right? It'll be a reason why they might be a little bit different, if their act slips?]

I haven't been keeping track of days very well. But it was still summer when I got here, I think?

[And it's halfway through spring now.]

[Timecraft!! All over again!]

[Odile scowls with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment before fixing her glasses back into place.]

I knew it... But I don't understand. We were together just before I got here, and it hasn't been more than maybe, oh, a couple of weeks.

...'Frin. [She fixes them with an intensely thoughtful look, as she puts on her metaphorical Researcher hat, but... There's something else in her eyes, beneath the focus. Sympathy, and worry.] Do you think this could be some kind of lingering effect to do with...? It wouldn't work like this, would it?

[Congrats, Loop, she's distracted from how you don't seem quite like Siffrin! Your prize is having fun with a question that might hit some raw nerves!]

Edited 2025-04-29 02:24 (UTC)

[Honestly, having one of their (former? former-as-soon-as-she-realizes?) friends around is so much of a raw nerve by itself that Loop hardly registers the question as anything extra. Which doesn't mean they have a clear answer. In fact: until they saw Odile, they were pretty sure this was just where the Universe wanted to put them. Since they didn't have a place back home anymore and all.]

[But...] I don't think so...? There wasn't anything left after the loops broke. [Nothing except what they had, and they burnt through the rest of that fighting stardust.] So... so if it's Wishcraft, it'd have to be someone else's wish, wouldn't it?

[At least, for once, it's not all their fault! Hahaha!]

And, anyway, since humans can't use Craft here at all. [Which, by the way: exceptionally frustrating. They've gotten used to it by now, but still!! Even so, they can't think of a reason Wishcraft would be any different, though the idea of testing it is unthinkable.] Maybe it's a Pokemon doing it, somehow...?

[They reach up to pat their Quilava absently. If nothing else, it seems like being here for nearly a year has helped with "Siffrin's" reactivity to touch. Or maybe that's only true with their team?]

[She huffs out a breath when they mention the inability to use Craft. She's less used to this... It just feels insulting to have such a core practice in life unaccessible!]

Don't remind me. [She hums thoughtfully while bringing her fingers to her chin.] Pokemon are the only ones here with abilities at all like Craft. Maybe you're on to something.

[She takes a moment to look at them a little harder. The way they're interacting with their Pokemon... It's nice to see. Odile smiles, even if the look in her eyes indicates part of her mind is still locked into focus on trying to figure this out.]

Well done, Siffrin.

[...?]

Um. For what...? [Suggesting the Pokemon thing is the only thing that comes to Loop's mind, but they don't think that was all that impressive? Even stardust wasn't that clueless. Mostly.]

[The Quilava flicks his ears, opens one eye to peer at Odile, streeeetches his little legs out... then yawns and dozes right back off.]

[She gives a smile, bordering on a smirk, and gestures to Quilava, then the rest of Siffrin's entourage.]

It seems like you've adjusted and then some.

[Loop glances behind themself, then realizes.]

[Oh! They guess they have...?]

[...ha. Haha! Of course they have! Callous aimless Loop! Spineless and uncaring enough to abandon their friends and be shown exactly how much of a failure they are, and then just move on to life in a new world! Except they can't even commit to that! They're still just as much of a useless purposeless traveler as before, and if they try to plan for more than a week in advance all they feel is exhaustion at the idea of continuing!]

[In the background, Loop's Banette perks up, staring intensely at them.]

[Loop swallows. They have no idea what stardust would say in response to that. Or maybe they've forgotten how to be Siffrin at all.]

[They smile again.] I guess I didn't have a choice, haha!

Um. You said you've been here for a couple weeks...?

[She narrows her eyes, just a little. No, something definitely feels off, but... Is it only due to them being here alone for so much time? Or-- is there more to it?]

Yes. It's a strange place, but I'm getting the hang of things.

[She doesn't like how much of it is new to her, but admitting that feels... irresponsible right now. They're both adults, but Odile maintains that Siffrin, just like Mirabelle and Isabeau, aren't her peers. She owes the group a level of togetherness, reliability... And expertise, but in this world, Siffrin has more of that last one.]

Are you traveling, or have you settled in this city?

Traveling. You know me, if I ever stopped I might just die~

[They joked about that at some point before the House, didn't they...? Something about sharks? Loop barely remembers.]

[It's not that they didn't like parts of traveling, but it wasn't ever really for the fun of it. (So much of the time it was miserable - particularly early on, when they were still a kid.) It was always because they were trying to find something. Something to keep going for, when all they had of their life was gone. And this time... well, they guess it's the same thing but even more so, haha!]

[That, and... staying in the same place for too long makes them nervous, now. Once it starts becoming too familiar. They try not to think about it.]

[Her eyes narrow more, now.]

Hm. I'm planning to continue traveling, as well. We could continue to do so together.

[Something is wrong again, that much feels clear, and it's hard not to feel frustrated at them, for not being forthcoming... But, getting angry won't help.]

And it would give us a chance to talk, about anything that's been bothering you.

[Besides, she can't shake the feeling that it's not that simple. Something about Siffrin feels too off.]

[Odile's definitely noticing something. Even when she's not necessarily sharing her thoughts, or her own secrets, she doesn't tend to hide that she has them. And her expression...]

[Don't flinch, Loop. Don't look away. Or - no, that's fine, stardust has a tendency of not always meeting people's eyes either, but don't act too nervous.]

[Despite all that, they also aren't faking it when their voice cracks a little responding. They sound (pathetically, pathetically) grateful:] I'd - I'd like that.

...I've missed you.

[They are realizing, right this moment, that if they can manage to fake this well enough... maybe they really will get to be Siffrin again? Without having to kill stardust for it? (No, it's still too late, they've changed too much, they'll always know - but maybe it'll be close enough? Even if they're pretending the whole time?)]

[They don't want to be alone.]

[...which, of course, means they can't answer what's bothering them even close to honestly. Ha. What isn't bothering them...]

[For now, they duck under the brim of their hat for a second, then force themself to perk up again.] You should introduce me to your Pokemon!

Test Drive Meme - Spring 2025

C, waves hello furiously!!

hello hello! also gunna go ahead and mark SPOILERS lol

YEAH probably wise... & additional cw for loop's suicidal ideation and related canon-typical topics

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