Arrival; [Video]

[sonofagautier]

The gear's feed flickers in to a rather disheveled looking redhead that clearly doesn't want to be doing this. Because goddess and all the saints, he does not want to be doing this. Asking for help is already a task. Asking for help within a brand new world he cannot even begin to comprehend? Nightmare scenario. He's clearly lost and disoriented, and there's music and a fire pony following him around. Really, the only good thing is the fire pony- ponyta- whatever.

"Okay, don't know what this is, where this is going, or who's on the other end, but I can read instructions well enough to get to this point. Hi, Sylvain here, no clue where I am besides a very unhelpful 'New Bark Town' sign a few paces back, and I found a horse on fire. A baby horse, err, or maybe a pony. So... help? Maybe? I'm not even sure what I'm asking here."

And the apparent cause of how much of a mess his red locks are becomes obvious as he sweeps a hand through it again like a nervous tick. Behind him, the camera is panned just enough for a ponyta to be seen running obviously bored laps back and forth. They're pretty clearly at the edge of town, the buildings of New Bark still somewhat visible. Sylvain didn't make it very far...

Comments

Network - Private

[bestswordmaster]

The first thing Sylvain sees on the screen with this reply is a shiny Tsareena with huge wide eyes that are filling with tears - though they seem to be glad tears, as she's wearing a broad smile, too. She makes a few trilling noises that seem like happy ones and then the view is dizzying as she clearly grabs the Gear and starts running full-speed.

Felix is mid-training with Assal and Andre when Inda careens over to him and urgently holds his Gear up for him to take; Sylvain can hear the clash of steel on steel until Felix pauses to look down. She wouldn't be acting like this unless it was an emergency, so he doesn't bother wasting time with asking questions. He just takes it and peers at the screen with a concerned frown, slightly red-faced and sweaty from exertion, hair mussed and falling a bit out of its tie.

What he sees makes his eyes go wide, too. He feels like his heart has stopped and he's forgotten how to breathe. He can't make any words come out before he sinks down to sit in the grass, not bothering to try to seem cool or collected. He just lets go of the Doublade in his hand, which floats up to hover behind Felix so it can look down at the screen, too.

His voice is tight with barely leashed hope. He can't...assume anything. "...Sylvain. Where...is that New Bark Town?"

Network - Private

[crumbs_and_yums]

Annette doesn't often explore the Network, but it's a guilty pleasure while she's running errands or walking anywhere. It makes her feel like she's multitasking, and Tritz or another pokemon are pretty good about keeping her from walking into anything or anyone. This time, the face on the screen makes her stop short, and almost drop the Gear.

Her face drains as she listens to Sylvain, and she realizes he doesn't seem to remember anything about this place. She immediately does an about face, and starts speedwalking home as she connects to respond. Maybe she'll be lucky, and Felix is busy training or something, for a while.

On screen, Annette puts on her best smile, and tries to hide the fact that she's talking while walking swiftly. "Sylvain, hiiii....how are you doing? It's good to see you again!"

Network - private

[donoteattheweeds]

Honestly, the entirety of this message is... very Sylvain. On brand, as the kids say. He also appears considerably upset by his current circumstances, which is entirely fair; Dedue decides to reply to him to hopefully provide some amount of answers before Felix or Dimitri inevitably monopolize his attention.

"Hello, Sylvain."

Hopefully he's at least a little comforted by the familiar sight of this brick shithouse face.

"I understand that your arrival was likely strange and confusing, but you need not worry much about where you are. Felix and His Highness are here as well, and they will arrange for your travel, if you do not mind waiting for a few hours."

Never fear, the Rat King and your favorite tsundere will be basically tripping over themselves to get to you.

"If you have any pressing questions, I will do my best to answer them for you."

network, also private, is sylvain sensing a theme yet

[nastyboy]

Dimitri doesn't mind the network too much, although he doesn't stay on it all the time. For the most part, that's something to have on in the background while he listens to some pleasing Staryutube videos or, more likely, the sound of Gremlin playing whatever video game he's interested in. Whenever a new post comes up, this Gear gives a little ping to know it. Dimitri doesn't get too bothered about it, honestly. Most things don't even affect him. It's just people, communicating in this delightful manner that Johto's technology allows.

However... His Pokemon have an eye for knowing the important things. So when Gremlin starts flailing at the screen and flings it at Dimitri with his whole little rat body, Dimitri almost doesn't catch it. But he does, and he looks at it immediately, and....

Oh.

His heart does something strange in his chest that almost feels like it's disappeared entirely. Dimitri is turning on the video feed of his camera almost before he can stop himself. "Sylvain," he says, breathless even though he's done nothing. All he's been doing has been carving more little figures for his booth at the market. "Oh - we will come get you immediately."

Whops, he kind of forgot an explanation there.

ha ha what's a private

[demonpuppy]

Sylvain!!

[Hi, Sylvain! You don't know this child! But they sure know you!]

You're back, you're back! I took really good care of Pooka, I promise! I brushed him every day and I played with him a bunch!! When are you coming home, we have a house in Vermillion now, too!

Network, of course it's private, who do you think this is

[vrdantwind]

Claude had honestly gotten news of Sylvain's arrival late - mostly because the others, upon discovering Sylvain on the network, had all dropped what they were doing to talk to him, rather than taking the time to inform the others first. Not what Claude would have done, but, well, that's because Claude is Claude and the others are not Claude. Information control, looking ahead for potential complications and consequences, looking at the big picture...that's always been Claude's wheelhouse, much more so than any of the Faerghans. Checking his kneejerk desires enough to pick the optimal response to any given situation, too, come to that. For them, they see Sylvain, and their first thoughts are for Sylvain's immediate situation and their own happiness to see him. Claude sees Sylvain, and his first thought is how to best manage the impact of his arrival - on Sylvain, and on everyone else.

(Well, not entirely. His first first reaction is a desperate longing that cuts to the core of him. His second reaction is to do the emotional equivalent of sitting on his hands until he can compose himself enough to consider the situation, and then go from there. Just as well, too - there's no outlet for what he's feeling right now, anyway. What's he supposed to do? Run into the arms of a Sylvain that doesn't remember ever having held him?)

As he composes himself, he keeps loose tabs on not just Sylvain's post, but the various conversations with him. Obviously, they're all private, and while Claude's gotten pretty comfortable with this world's technology over the past year, he's still no hacker. But he is living in the same place as the other Faerghans; they can private their responses to Sylvain, but Claude can hear some of them around the house. He's not fully eavesdropping(and Claude is definitely nosy enough to have dropped some very deliberate eaves in the past, so there's a clear distinction), but he can follow the rough gist of things - in tone, in the occasional snatches of word, in the general atmosphere of the house itself, and definitely in his own knowledge of the people around him. (He doesn't need to hear a single word of Felix or Dimitri talking to Sylvain to know they'll be rushing to his side the moment they can get themselves out the door, and Claude wouldn't have it otherwise.)

It's a good thing he's spreading his attention out, however, because he sees Chip's response to Sylvain where the others might be too occupied. (Except perhaps Grant, who Claude suspects is doing the exact same thing he is - hanging back quietly.) And when Claude sees that...his heart sinks.

Arceus really does have a lot to answer for. None of them had ever even alluded to Chip about the memory loss this place can leave them with, had they? Intentionally. The kid already has it so rough; the thought of upsetting them with the idea that they might lose their memories of this place, or the people they love might lose their memories of this place, that what happens here could be made to not matter...it was just too cruel for any of their group to dump on them. But now, at least to some capacity, it's obviously going to be unavoidable. And Sylvain's going to get fallout for something that he has no control over, to boot...not to mention a whole lot of confusion over a subject that, evidently, everyone has also been avoiding bringing up with Sylvain. If Sylvain still thinks he hasn't been here before...then no one's told him yet. And breaking a kid's heart is sure a hell of a way for him to find out.

As much as Claude wants to hold himself back, not thrust himself into an already tangled mess of his own emotions and a whole lot of things for Sylvain to have to sort out here...he feels like he has to do something now. Someone has to do damage control. If Grant's watching this go down the way Claude is - and Claude's got faith that he is; the whole house is buzzing with Sylvain conversations, he can't have missed this - then naturally his priority will be Chip. That leaves Sylvain to Claude.

All of this thought takes Claude less than two minutes. About half of that time is mingled with thinking that Jaskier was right about him, and regretting the entire way that he is, even while arguing with himself that surely someone needs to think like this. To think about all the conflicting needs in a situation, and to try to find the most positive (or, at worst, the least painful) way to resolve them all. If not him, then who? If Claude isn't the one keeping his finger on the pulse of Chip's abandonment issues, Grant's insecurities, Dimitri's recklessness, Felix's heartache, Sylvain's natural confusion, the feelings of Inda and Sylvain's other pokémon, the impact of Sylvain's memory loss, how they'll get Sylvain here and how they'll fill him in on things, trying to carefully balance all the considerations against each other to address each without completely unbalancing everything - well, who else is going to do it? Who else is even positioned to do it? Navigating a situation this emotionally charged and complex...it needs a strategist. It needs a diplomat. More than anything else, it needs someone who can wear every hat in the millinery and who's got more masks than an entire theater troupe.

Either no one is going to have any control over what could easily become a huge mess at all, or Claude has to pick up the reins. If Jaskier thinks it's more natural and proper to let the cart steer itself headlong into whatever ditch it may, possibly setting it on fire as it goes, then he can judge Claude all he likes for thinking he might be able to do better than that.

After about twenty seconds of controlled breathing to get himself...stable enough, Claude turns on his video, and his usual charming smile. "Hey, Sylvain! Good to see you here. I know you're having a bunch of reunions with the others, so you've probably already got a lot on your plate, but I think there are some things you're going to need to get filled in on that they probably haven't gotten around to talking to you about yet. Things like...who that kid is you're talking to, and what they're talking about when they act like you've been here before."

[freckledarcher]

Ashe was in the middle of figuring out what he could make for lunch when Ky carried his gear over to him with Growlithe. Growlithe bumped his leg while Ky chirped and waved his gear around.

"Hmm? Someone new to the network?" Ashe took the gear to see Sylvain...oh wait Sylvain!?

"Hey! Welcome back! I'm sorry that you're having trouble right now, but I'm sure someone will be there to pick you up soon. Things in this place is so different, isn't it?"

Ashe has been here for awhile and there are some things that still surprise him.