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

[nastyboy]

If it is for all of you... I think - the very least that is asked of me is to be meddlesome.

[At least to this degree, certainly. Dimitri doesn't think he deserves anyone around him, but... He doesn't want to see Sylvain and Felix break apart.]

Felix... It matters because you and Sylvain are hurting. If you cannot explain it to even me, what will you do when you speak with Sylvain in the morning?

[And Dimitri... straightens his shoulders a little bit. Gains back, it seems, a little more of the quiet somberness that Felix might recognize, even if this Dimitri is not the same as the crowned king of Faerghus.]

Think carefully on what is important, Felix. You know as well as I do that the last thing either of us want is for Sylvain to feel so alone and spurned that to abscond into the woods is preferable to speaking of his emotions with us.

I will not speak on what emotions he confided to me when I arrived here... but please know that everything that has happened tonight has mattered. However, the truth of it can only be found when both of you are honest with one another.

The hurt, done to both of you, can only be healed in that same manner.

That is all I will say on the matter.

[bestswordmaster]

Don't lecture me.

[Another kneejerk reaction. But that look in Dimitri's eye... Felix rubs his face.]

...look. I didn't... When we were in the woods, it was fine. It was...good. Then we got here and he...did that, and it was like...he wanted everyone to show up but me. Like he was disgusted with the idea. And then Riegan was there and I was so angry. I just...did the first thing that came to mind.

...I can't believe I'm telling you this. But I don't care if you think I'm pathetic. [That's entirely untrue.]

[nastyboy]

I do not think you are pathetic. I never have.

[And Dimitri doesn't lie about such things.]

...Tell him that. Do not shy away from it. All right?

[bestswordmaster]

[That simple statement should not feel like as much of a reassurance as it does. It wasn't that long ago that Dimitri told him and the rest of their friends that they were nothing but tools to him, that he would use them up and discard them to get what he wanted. That...had hurt much more than Felix ever would have admitted. That was the lowest depth of his despair of ever getting Dimitri back.

He apologized later, but Felix could never tell whether he'd really meant it when he said it, and the thought nags at him still, even now. He tries not to let this conversation give him hope. Hope is pointless. Things happen or they don't. Wishing and hoping never made a difference.

...but he feels closer to Dimitri now in this moment than he has in a decade. He's not sure what to do with that.]

...yeah. I'll...try. [A pause.] It's late, you should sleep. Aren't you challenging the gym tomorrow?

[nastyboy]

Yes... I do not believe I am far enough for my original plans to be disrupted.

[He'll just have to run a little, that's fine, he's run in far worse conditions for far worse things. It's fine. Although, as he slumps back against a tree, Dimitri pauses.]

...The most important thing, I think, would be disrupting Sylvain by accident... And keeping you up for much longer.

[He skitters away from mentioning that he... probably won't be sleeping.]

[bestswordmaster]

You're the one battling tomorrow, not us. Don't change the subject. Where's your freakish dream eater thing?

[He doesn't expect Dimitri to listen to him--he never does--but at least he hasn't noticed anything strange about the prince's behavior other than that he seems...a little more himself than he did before Gronder the first time. So the Pokemon probably isn't doing anything dangerous. Probably.]

[nastyboy]

[...Felix is still very good at reading him completely. Dimitri is glad (???) to see that hasn't changed.]

[He does look rather like a child that's been caught trying to sneak out of his bed at night, however.]

...I left Kent in Violet.

...I only have Dean and Gremlin with me.

[Dean gives a small tired wave at the very bottom edge of the screen.]

I initially thought that perhaps I would have to carry Sylvain back...

[Hear that, Sylvain? You were lucky.]

[bestswordmaster]

You left it here? [Felix scowls slightly.] How far did you go? Tell me how to get there, I'm bringing it to you right now. You can't battle without sleep, Dimitri. I've seen you try. It's a disaster.

[nastyboy]

No.

[That's sure a prompt answer, and Dimitri shakes his head.]

Sylvain will call you in the morning, but, until then, he desires some time away. I promised that I would stay here with him in exchange for that.

It will be fine. I have been sleeping more in the past few weeks than I have before. [You know, the past few years.] I will not be as bad as I was.

[That's how it works, right? You can just stockpile sleep?]

[bestswordmaster]

[He desires some time away. Sylvain wants time away from him. It feels like a punch to the gut. If Sylvain doesn't even want to see him until the morning...what is he planning to say? Dimitri said 'what happened tonight mattered.' Is Sylvain going to say he's...leaving because of Felix and doesn't intend to come back? Or that--no, this is pointless.]

Fine. Do what you want. I'm going back to sleep.

[nastyboy]

[That sudden brusqueness... Dimitri is quite familiar with that. He can remember it from their school days, when Felix had brushed him aside even when they'd have pleasant conversations...]

...Very well. If you have trouble sleeping... [A moment of hesitance.] ...If you do not threaten him, Kent will gladly help.

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix blinks. One thing he still can't get used to is all this...generosity. First lunch, then the blue lion, now this? Are these supposed to be peace offerings or something? It reminds him of what Mercedes often does, giving him things and doing things for him that he never asked for. Does Dimitri pity him?

But again he's struck with a sudden memory: every time he went to Fhirdiad as a child to visit Dimitri (well, to visit the king, but that's not how it felt to Felix) they would exchange gifts. Little things, nothing extravagant, just...something they could hold onto in between visits and write each other letters about and such. Whenever these memories plagued him before, they hurt, knowing he'd never see that Dimitri again, that he was effectively dead and gone. But now?

...he resolves to find something for Dimitri tomorrow.]

I...appreciate it. Good night, Dimitri.