IC: @victory_road Pokégear inbox

[bestswordmaster]

Sylvain said I needed to record something to tell you to leave a message, even though if you're bothering to message me in the first place you already know what you're supposed to do, so this is pointless. So...leave a message, I guess. Maybe I'll get back to you. Maybe I won't.

[beep]

Comments

[gautsome]

Hey Fe -- am I your first message? I bet I am. Now every time you open this thing, you're going to see me

You're welcome.

video

[nastyboy]

[After his own late night adventure, Dimitri finally manages to contact Felix... you know, after a few hours of hauling ass in the woods to make sure he could catch up with Sylvain. It is the woods that serve as the backdrop to him when he starts the video, with the warm flicker of a fire at least a sign he's staying warm.]

[And, you know, his pig, whose head Felix will just barely get a glimpse of.]

[...No glimpse of Sylvain, however. For once, Dimitri is trying to be careful of where he points the camera of this thing. It's why Gremlin, his Rattata, is there to help, nudging at Dimitri's hand.]

...I found Sylvain. He wanted to go to Goldenrod... But he will speak with you come morning.

...He's resting, now.

[Technically not sleeping, technically not a lie.]

Re: video

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix wakes up to the sound of a message coming through on his Gear. He fumbles around in the dark with it for a moment before he manages to press the right button to answer it. When he appears on the screen to Dimitri, he looks half-asleep and confused, with his hair down and somewhat tangled, and two cats investigating the camera and climbing on Felix. He mostly ignores them.]

...wait. Slow down. What do you mean, you found Sylvain? [He's suddenly wide awake and leaning forward, alarmed.] Did something happen? Is he hurt? Where are you?

[He looks like he's ready to get up and go to find them right now.]

[gautsome]

[Hooboy, you know what Sylvain doesn't want to do? This. He's done everything in his power to delay the inevitable, including jumping into the creek for the sake of cleaning up, and then shivering by the fire for well over an hour in an attempt to warm up, and then cooking up a small breakfast from the leftovers he'd pilfered before leaving town.

It's the fact that Dimitri has somewhere to be that finally spurs Sylvain into action, even if his fingers are slow in the process. He tells himself that's only because they're numb, even if they've had feeling in them for several minutes now.

For all his feet dragging, though, eventually he finds his thumb hanging over the call button. A quick glance toward Dimitri gives him the strength (or threat) to do what's necessary, and he taps it.

He wants to duck into his coat. To hide behind Felix, or tear further into the woods. Knowing that he'll only be hauled back by Dimitri, he stays still and waits for Felix to answer the video call.]

[bestswordmaster]

[Unlike Dimitri, Felix tends to escape into sleep when he's in a dark state of mind, rather than having trouble sleeping. So he slept just fine after he hung up last night, and he's up early in the morning to take his team outside for an hour or two of training. ...he keeps his Gear with him, though, and it doesn't make a noise.

So he bathes and dresses in the new clothes that were waiting for him in the bag (not...awful, he thinks), and then he eats breakfast, and all the while the Gear is silent.

He's just starting to panic--maybe Sylvain decided not to call after all, maybe he's already halfway to Goldenrod, maybe--when the noise he's been waiting for comes. It happens while he's in the middle of taking his Pokemon back outside to train some more (it feels good to get back into this routine, even if it's sans sword), and he immediately drops the pokeball in his hand to answer it; Fellstar the Espurr comes out looking confused, but Felix ignores him for the moment. He tries his best to put on his usual stoic expression, even if his heart is beating a mile a minute.]

...hi.

12/2?

[gautsome]

mitya has a date
ok a not date
a not date with grant

[bestswordmaster]

excuse me what?
what is that supposed to mean

the night of whenever Sylvain does his Dimitri date - text

[nastyboy]

[Felix, by now, probably caught on to how Sylvain was preparing to do something for Dimitri. You know, with him kicking Felix out of their room with bags of cheese in his arms.]

[But after a while...]

Dear Felix,

Are you still awake?

[bestswordmaster]

why are you suddenly writing a letter again?
yes I'm awake.
obviously.
what is it?

[ Dated when the Femblemtroikas leave Goldenrod ]

[fortuna_tenax]

[ It's not a day she was looking forward to- but they're all on different levels, and if she wants to catch up to him, she needs to do things the slow way too. So it's... it's time to say Goodbye for now. Still, it must be surprising that she asks to speak to him alone. And when she gets her wish, she carefully takes his arm and wraps a thin dark blue leather strap around his wrist. It's decorated with a simply elegant silver star, one point especially longer than the other points. The way she ties it lets it lay across the flat of his arm. There are a few other, smaller beads around it as well, but otherwise it's not too ornate. It's sleek and beautiful. ]

It- [ And she pauses for a second, as if unsure of herself. ] I made it. So don't you dare lose it, got it?

[bestswordmaster]

[He is surprised that she wants to speak privately, but he assumes it's something about her training or her Pokemon. So the gift is even more surprising. He blinks at it for a moment, then glances back up at her, confused.]

What's this for?

[nastyboy]

[Shortly after they arrive in Ecruteak, Dimitri goes to find Felix on his own.]

I know this must be rather sudden, Felix, but... I was wondering if you could cover my cost of expenses for a while, in terms of staying at the inn?

There is something I am hoping to work towards, and I will need to gather the funds for it.

[bestswordmaster]

Oh?

[Felix looks up at him, one eyebrow raised.]

Proposing to Claude already?

[Has Felix gotten sassier since he and Sylvain caught up with them? ...maybe.]

2/15 (Ish?)

[gautsome]

what time r u gonna b home
i wanna kno so i can have dinner ready 4 u?

[bestswordmaster]

[It takes a minute or two for the response to come.]

idk.
soon I guess.
I'm training.

Text | Afternoon of the 14th

[rollstoseduce]

[Well, actually, the actual text is empty. What matters is the picture attached.

It's a photo of the card with Felix's secret, and something has been (digitally!) written on it in bright yellow. The words "fake smiles" are circled and an arrow pointing at it says "my smiles are never fake". Same with "mockery": circle, arrow, and a message: "you started it".

#maturity]

Text | Morning of the 16th

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix has asked Jinx for help in figuring out how Jaskier did that with the digital edits, so that he can send the same photo back, but with the addition of more edits in teal. The words "he'll only make me regret it" are circled, and the accompanying arrow leads to a single word: "confirmed".

#maturity^2]

Text | 2/18, around lunchtime

[crumbs_and_yums]

Felix? Do you want to talk to me? I can bring you lunch.

[bestswordmaster]

[It hasn't been that long since Claude was here, he thinks. He might have dozed off. It was that or go train, and he isn't ready to leave the room. But the noise from his Gear brings him back to full wakefulness quickly.

...oh. Someone told Annette.

Truthfully, the answer is no, he doesn't really want to talk to Annette. He doesn't really want to talk to anyone. But he also doesn't want to say no to Annette.]

I'm not hungry.
we can talk
if you want.

2/20

[gautsome]

[Around the middle to late afternoon, Inda starts to get a little fussy. No matter where they are, she insists on going back to their room. At first, it might seem like she's trying to check on her father -- that's what she does first, after all. She clambers up onto the bed and sits beside him. She watches him, face just a little sad as she pats his cheeks a few times. When nothing changes, she leans down to give her best attempt at a kiss to his forehead, just as he'd done to her several times over.

Even with all that done, though, she doesn't seem satisfied. Instead, she toddles over to the Sylvain's bag and begins digging through it. Someone has developed a bad habit of going through her father's things, apparently!]

[bestswordmaster]

[Okay, so Felicity told him not to throw himself into physical activity to avoid feelings, and so he’s not doing that. But he is giving himself a birthday present, just for a little while, in going out to the pond to skate. Look, he’s not alone this time! He brought Inda, and he brought Brandl who wanted to learn how to skate, and in this world it turns out they do make skates for Pokémon so he bought her a pair.

But after an hour or two, Inda is insistent on going back inside. So he obliges her, quietly resigning himself to the fact that much like Sylvain, he’s probably never going to turn her down for anything she wants. Sigh.

Once there, he joins her on the bed and watches them both. He pats Inda’s leaves the way he’s seen Sylvain do.]

You know, Inda, there’s an old Faerghan story about a princess cursed to sleep a lot like this. She wakes up when her so-called ‘true love’ comes and kisses her. The whole thing is nonsense, but...what do you think, should I try it? Ha. You never know.

[When she starts rummaging through Sylvain’s things, he stays where he is on the bed and takes his fiancé’s hand just to hold it.]

Sylvain, she’s getting awfully bold. Soon she’s going to think she owns the place. And let’s face it, she’ll be right.

What are you looking for?

2/20

[fortuna_tenax]

[ At some point when Felix is bullied to leave the room again, someone sneaky leaves a decent sized box, wrapped pristinely in blue and silver. It's not too tall, but it's fairly wide. Inside is a few sample-sized boxes of different teas, from Earl Gray and Lady Gray to Mint and Chamomile, to Green. With each kind is a note detailing it's name, where she got it, and what it's recommended to take the tea with- though she clearly insists he try it as is too. The other object is, however, somewhat more personalized.

It's a printed book with snapshots of his gym battles, all of which look like she'd gotten them from recordings of the broadcasts. Not nearly the size of a scrapbook or photo album, but there's space for him to write a little bit about each picture as well. There's plenty of empty pages as well, marked with spots to put new pictures- and maybe even some from Dimitri, Claude and Chip's as well.

Happy Birthday, Felix. ]

[Text]

[bestswordmaster]

[It's not until after Felix is finished opening all of Sylvain's gifts and spending a little quality time with Inda that Varley approaches him to push what is obviously another gift toward him with a paw. Seeing who it's from, Felix can't help but feel like this is a bit ironic--the person who urged him not to spend too much time alone and refused to leave him be when he told her to has now dropped off a gift instead of giving it to him in person. He wonders why, but shrugs and opens it.

He smiles to see the tea assortment and takes a few minutes to sit and read the note for each tea. Some of them are familiar, including chamomile, bergamot, and mint--which he always remembers not because he's some kind of tea aficionado but because they are Dimitri, Sylvain, and Ingrid's favorite teas, respectively. Others are completely unfamiliar. And then there's a pine needle tea that he hopes is close enough to Almyran Pine that he and Claude will like it.

When he opens the book, his eyes widen. How did--right. The Gear can take pictures. He always forgets. This world has a lot of amazing and impossible things, but the ability to capture moments in time as though they'd fallen right out of someone's memories remains one of the most wondrous, to Felix. He releases a bunch of his Pokemon to show them the pictures they're in. It's odd to see himself in some of them, too, looking focused, giving commands.

The reminder that the miracle of photography exists prompts him to pull out his Gear and take a few pictures of Sylvain as he sleeps, with Inda napping on his chest. Then, while he has it in his hand, he sends a message to Felicity.]

hey.
I found the gift.
well, Varley did.
thank you.
have tea with me.
not right now but
soon.
maybe tomorrow?
what's your favorite tea?
this book is
incredible.
I keep forgetting about cameras.

2/20

[crumbs_and_yums]

[At some point during the day, a Fennekin slinks in and drops a hand-wrapped brown paper package in the middle of the floor.

Inside the package is a nice, but not pricey, set of half a dozen plain wooden-handled steak knives. And also a note.

In neat handwriting, it reads:


Felix, going shopping here is so overwhelming, with so many things I still don't understand. The next gift I give you will be something better, once I learn what all these things do! Did you know they sell cake mixes? If I had an oven, I would have baked you a cake! And if you didn't want to eat it, then I would have to make that sacrifice and eat it for you, I suppose.

Until the day I can figure out how to do that, please accept this birthday gift. In case I need to bribe you with steak again some time. They don't look like much, but I did my research and apparently the serrated blade are much better for meat than the smooth ones I'm accustomed to. What commonplace wonders!

Thank you for being my friend, and helping me so much in this world, and every world we've met. Happy Birthday, Felix. You deserve happiness.

PS I probably won't cook it myself, don't worry.]

[Text]

[bestswordmaster]

[It's later in the day when Felix comes back from Dimitri's Pokemon forcing him to go get food that Varley and Inda are ushering him toward yet another gift. Felix isn't sure why he didn't expect all this, but it beats people trying to drag him to a party, which is what's often happened in the past. ...and he appreciates the gifts, too.

When he sees who this one is from, he's surprised, though he's not sure why; Annette's the sweetest, kindest person on any planet. Still, knowing she was thinking about him and remembered his birthday...it's...really nice. He hasn't spent enough time with her since she arrived. He needs to fix that.

The gift itself puzzles him for a moment, but the note's explanation makes him shake his head--she didn't need to bribe him with steak in the first place! The rest of it sends a quiet warmth through his chest and up into his face. He should be thanking her. For existing, frankly. For being the sun shining through clouds throughout the war. For her friendship and her smile. And for this gift, too.

...and for promising not to cook the steak herself.

Smiling, he sends her a message:]

hey.
my pokemon found the gift.
I opened it.
you never actually needed to bribe me with steak to begin with.
but I appreciate the knives.
thank you.
yes this world is full of strange things.
it takes getting used to.
you can ask grant or chip about them.
their world is a lot like this one.
so they know all about technology.
jinx gave me a box of teas
and it has some rose petal tea in it.
have tea with me tomorrow.
please?]

[Then, a few minutes later,]

🍵🙂

2/20

[nastyboy]

[Some of Dimitri's Pokemon have taken it upon themselves to help make sure the gang is all in working order - namely Dean the Emboar, Agnes the Kangaskhan, and his new Indeedee friend, Silkie. Today, it's Silkie's turn to check in on Felix and Sylvain: wiping Sylvain's face so he's clean, changing sheets, politely harassing Felix into food if she's heard he hasn't yet, things like that.]

[She also holds up a small package for him.]

[Inside is a small birthday card with a Meowth on the cover that says Have a purrfect birthday. There is also a carefully carved wooden dagger - certainly not going to cut anything anytime soon, but dense and sturdy enough that being jabbed would sure be a fucking experience.]

[There's a card inside.]

Dear Felix,

This is certainly not the way any of us would have preferred to celebrate your birthday. Still, I am glad that we are all here together, even if Sylvain cannot attend properly. When he awakes, we will have to make up for that.

You are dear and beloved to me, and gladly see you grow older alongside me.

Happy Birthday, with love,

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix dislikes Dimitri's Indeedee. In fact, he dislikes all Indeedee, thanks to the way he was introduced to them. He reluctantly endures the other Pokemon hassling him about meals and whatnot, even if he grumbles at them that he's perfectly capable of cleaning Sylvain's face himself. But whenever he catches Silkie in the room, he shoos her out immediately. He doesn't need another round of meddling psychic Pokemon digging around in his head, thanks.

So he's surprised when she hands him the package, until he sees the card and realizes what it is and where it came from. He groans and facepalms when he reads the Meowth joke--he will never be free of Dimitri's terrible sense of humor--but the personal note is...touching. He reads it aloud to Sylvain, since it's about him, too.]

Hear that, Sylvain? Dimitri's still talking about throwing a damn party. He signed his full name, too. Tch, typical.

[Please, Felix. Like you're not smiling at every word Dimitri wrote.

He displays the card slightly open and standing up on the bedside table before he opens the present itself. He stares at it for a moment and then starts laughing quietly, despite himself. He can practically hear Sylvain's own laughter over this, his teasing. He can't wait to show it to him for real. The reaction will be priceless.

Maybe he'll take a picture of it for the book.

In the meantime, he sends Dimitri a message.]

hey.
your freaky pokemon gave me the gift.
I can't believe you actually gave me a dagger.
sylvain is never going to let either of us hear the end of it.
you've doomed us mitya.
but thank you.
I really like it.
jinx gave me a box full of tea
and it has some chamomile in it.
have tea with me tomorrow.

[ BACKDATED - 2/20 ]

[deathknightdestroyer]

Oh, there you are. I understand if this isn't the best time, but, it's your birthday, isn't it?

[ Lysithea holds out a thin box- within is a silvery blue metal badge case, with a gold honedge embedded on it. It brought her no joy, seeking out this ghost pokemon paraphernalia. But he had his ghost sword for a reason, and she would support it. .......... Reluctantly. ]

... You look like you're doing [ Relatively. ] better. Happy birthday, Felix.

[bestswordmaster]

[This, Felix thinks, is why he was trying to spend all his time in the room. People can find him if he's out and about. But Felicity and several of Dimitri's Pokemon were insistent that he needed to go eat dinner. So here he is, making his way through the lobby toward the front doors, ponytail messier than usual because he didn't bother fixing it after his earlier skating practice and subsequent embarrassing crying session after reading Sylvain's letter. But he's otherwise fairly put together, and he does stop and give Lysithea a nod of greeting as she approaches.]

Here I am. And it is. Although how everyone knew that, I don't know. It's probably safe to blame Dimitri.

[He takes the box and opens it, pulling out the case and running his fingers over the Honedge. He didn't expect a gift from Lysithea, but then he hadn't expected gifts from most of the people who gave him one today, either. And this one is both practical and thoughtful.]

I'm fine. ...thank you. This will be useful.

[Something like a faint echo of a wry smile appears on his face.] I'm surprised you didn't leave it at my door like everyone else.

[ BACKDATED - FELIX AND RAZORS FIRST CONVERSATION - TEXT ]

[fortuna_tenax]

felix i am so sorry but razor didnt grow up in civilization and im 98% positive that he was like. raised by wolves PLEASE be patient with him

[bestswordmaster]

I know.
you told me.
but what kind of answer is that?
to a simple question?
ugh.

2/20

[woofdad]

[Grant is... admittedly a little torn on whether to give Felix his gift in person or not. He generally prefers giving gifts in person, but... well, he isn't sure if Felix is going to want that - especially right now, especially from him.

In the end, he opts to take the gift over to Felix and Sylvain's room and... well, hand it over if he runs into Felix on the way, or drop it off with Truffle to babysit it until Felix opens the door. Either way works, and either way Felix will get it - a box wrapped in silver and teal paper, containing an electric tea kettle (dark blue with white bands, mimicking the coloration of a male Meowstic) and its instructions for operation. There's a note tied to the box, as well, though it's shorter than Grant's usual gift notes:]

Happy birthday, Felix

Grant

text, backdated to before everything exploded

[nastyboy]

🥁🐀🎸🐈‍⬛

Look, Felix! It is a band!

[bestswordmaster]

🐈‍⬛📖🎸❓

text, 3/19

[neverfinishanyth]

I wanted to apologize for prying into your personal life earlier. I hadn't considered that you might be more private about these things than I.

[bestswordmaster]

[Ugh. This guy again. Although he's apologizing, which already puts him a rung or two above Jaskier. Felix thinks Claude might say that in this person's world, maybe they just talk about that kind of thing openly all the time. Maybe it's a cultural difference. So he responds, if reluctantly.]

fine.
apology accepted.

[ TEXT, BACKDATED TO SOMETIME IN MARCH ]

[fortuna_tenax]

hey um
i know ive been kinda distant lately
i just wanted to let you know its not your fault
ive been tired and everyones been busy
you dont have to answer

[bestswordmaster]

why wouldn't I answer?
it's understandable.
I have been tired as well.
still
I wanted to apologize for my behavior while sylvain was asleep.
and while I was sick.
I lose my patience so easily.
it's always been that way
and I've tried to rein it in but I still fail
and that's frustrating.
I didn't mean to drag you back into our mess.
you should go back to violet so you can pursue your own journey.

morning 4/6

[fingersandteeth]

Hey Felix, you like ice skating, right? I've seen the videos you post on the gear and I saw you playing hockey at Dimitri's picnic.

I *finally* found this world's equivalent of an ice skating anime I enjoyed from back home (it's called Yuri on Ice-type here) so do you want to watch it with Thace and I? The whole thing is about six hours altogether, so we'd want to start early in the day to be done in time for Fight Club to open or we could wait until Scorpia gets back from Victory Road in about a week to have a proper movie night. Or split it over two days I suppose.

I think you'd like it? I hope you would. You could bring any of your boyfriends with you if you want. I like them all. [Even Sylvain.]

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix blinks at his Gear. He's being invited to a thing? And not just because he happened to be standing there with Sylvain and someone was trying to be charitable? ...huh.]

I do like skating.
oh right
jinx told me about anime.
that sounds fine.
I'd prefer at night.
I didn't know scorpia was going to victory road.
I think she'll do well.
I'll ask if any of the others want to come along.]

Text | Monday after prom

[rollstoseduce]

You know as well as I do that I would never ask you for a favor unless it was bloody important... so here I am.

Because I care about him. I want to believe you do, too. He considers you a good friend, even if he isn't the best at showing it. And right now? He thinks he lost every right to talk to you or look at you in the eye. His guilt is haunting him.

So this is me, putting pride aside, to beg of you: please call him.

Don't do it for me. Do it for him.

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix is surprised but relieved to see a message from Jaskier, despite the fact that he'd been debating whether to send one to the bard himself. He wanted to check on Geralt, but he didn't know whether the witcher was even awake or lucid, and he hesitated to contact Jaskier to ask because -

Well, because of the tone of this message, frankly. Jaskier seems to be holding this grudge well past the point where any of it matters. Felix can be stubborn and petty and prideful, but if he learned one thing from the battle at Gronder Field, it's that if you hold onto resentment for too long, you could lose the chance to ever reconcile it in the blink of an eye.

So his response doesn't take long to arrive.]

of course.
you don't need to beg.
I was going to message you
to ask if he was all right.
I'll call him.
he has nothing to feel guilty about.
that wasn't him.
and it wasn't the first time I've seen a friend lose himself to mindless violence either.
you did well last night.
even if what you did was reckless and you could have gotten yourself killed.
few would have been able to stand their ground in your place.
I respect that.

fourth wall FOURTH WALL

[fortuna_tenax]

ATTACHED: LOCATION PING someone here is claiming to be your dad

[bestswordmaster]

WHAT THE FUCK.
send me a picture.

fourth wall

[lovelybottom]

I believe I have found your brother. You may want to come collect him.

[bestswordmaster]

[The reply is a long time coming, several minutes at least, while Felix just stares at his Gear. This cannot be happening.]

what the FUCK are you talking about

Late June - in person

[nastyboy]

[The past few days and nights have seen Dimitri a little bit sleepy in the mornings when he's gone with Felix to do their usual sparring and training. This morning is no different... but he's holding something behind his back as well, as they make their way out to outside town.]

[Dimitri thought about sneaking up on Felix with this... But, upon reflection, he figured he might get attacked for it with Felix thinking he was trying to get one up on him, or something.]

[Probably wouldn't happen.]

[But also there was a chance.]

So, Felix... Could I gift you something?

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix has noticed Dimitri's sleepiness, but hasn't bothered to say anything about it. Which is unusual, but he's been quiet in general since Lysithea vanished. He and Dimitri have already talked about it, it's not like this is new, but it does mean that Felix also doesn't say anything about the hand Dimitri's holding behind his back when they meet up in the morning, despite it being obvious.

At the question, though, he turns to glance at Dimitri, eyebrows slightly raised.]

...I suppose, if you must. What for?