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

[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.