victory_road | Arrival; [Video]

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Arrival; [Video]

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...

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Good - he can still care for him at least this much. Getting the order prepared will mean he will lag behind Felix to some degree, but, well... Hopefully Felix understands when he sees Sylvain comforted with a warm meal for himself and his Pokemon. Dimitri lets out a small breath of relief. "Sylvain... While I know I was harsh on you occasionally when we were younger, please know you would never be any trouble to me now."

The opposite, if anything.

Still, Dimitri quickly goes over to where Gremlin is still sitting - which means Sylvain will get to see when the camera focuses on a somewhat large purple Rodent with a blue collar around his neck that holds a rather plain looking stone as its center piece. Dimitri speaks to him as though he were a colleague, however. "Gremlin, could you place the order, please? The people in Cherrygrove hopefully still recall me."

Gremlin's little rat hands begin to immediately flail about, the smacking of them hitting the screen audible even to the Gear's mic. Sylvain may not be able to see it, but his video feed has been minimized into a smaller square, while Gremlin begins to navigate the various restaurant sites.

While he does so, Dimitri tries to recall what Sylvain liked back during their years in Garreg Mach. That feels like another lifetime ago, in more ways than one.... But he had liked slightly sweet things, like sweet buns, and berry sauces on his pheasants, sorbet. Fish had been another, hadn't it, in the form of fish sandwiches and sautes. And meat pies, and stews....

Maybe a bit of everything. Just a bit.

Some cheesy meatball calzones will be good, since those are kind of like meat pies, right? There is a crust, and meat inside. Dimitri figures it is close enough. A small bit of blueberry lemon poundcake will help as a dessert. And then finally, for the Ponyta....

Ah. Carrot apple bread. Perfect.

"A large bird will arrive at the start of New Bark Town with a package for you," Dimitri tells Sylvain. He has no doubt the redhead will be easy to spot for the delivery Starly. "They should get there soon, before Felix and I arrive. You can wait that long, can't you?"

"Occasionally?" Sylvain snorts. That has to be a joke. Sylvain was awful during their academy days. Ultimately he deserved the verbal lashing, but the fact Dimitri remembers it as 'occasionally' is hilarious. "I can still recite your lectures word for word, big guy." But there's such a smile on his lips it's impossible to believe he's anything but teasing. Or at least he hopes so.

But he's then distracted by a purple rat that can apparently operate technology better than Sylvain can. He's not sure if he ought to be fascinated or disappointed. Well, Felix had said Pokemon were smarter than typical animals.

Sylvain lifts his head to look back at the path into New Bark Town. It's hardly much of a walk, maybe thirty minutes at best. That's plenty of time before Felix is set to arrive.

"Yeah, I'll survive." Sylvain gathers up his belongings, and nods for Bonnie to start walking with him. He'll try to make it a quick trip so as not to get Felix any more fussy than he already is about moving from his designated spot. He carries his backpack over his shoulder, and keeps the pokegear close to his hip as he heads back to town.

"So introduce me to your rodent buddy while I walk."

Honestly - "Perhaps a few more times than occasionally," Dimitri amends, although he does it with a slight flush to his face and maybe something that is trying to be a scowl and might be more of a pout. Sometimes, when he thinks back on it, he did fuss over a great many things that mattered little in the long run. Why had he been fussing about Sylvain's bad habits?

....That is around the time he remembers that his dorm room had been right next to Sylvain's, and, ah, yes, that had been why.

Sylvain gets up to his feet, clearly with the intent to get walking instead of languishing right at the first small ledge, and Dimitri snaps out of it. Should he consider this a good thing, then? Maybe he should. He's always felt better moving about when stressed and worried. Hopefully... It will offer Sylvain some reassurance as well.

In the meanwhile, Dimitri props his gear up against somewhere on a bedside table. "Ah, this is Gremlin," Dimitri says, getting up to his feet. With him a distance away, and Gremlin so close, well. The camera is mostly all rat, while Dimitri's head is out of frame before he starts to move around. He needs to pack... "He is part of a species called Rattata. He was one of the first companions I met here... Ah, thank you, Selkie."

Sylvain won't get to see much of the person that Dimitri is speaking to, only see a backpack float over into Dimitri's hands.

"Yeah, 'perhaps-'" Sylvain very nearly trips on Bonnie as she excitedly zooms forward. She's got all the energy of a foal as well as the looks it seems, and Sylvain laughs. Straightening himself back up, he doesn't bother trying to match her stride, just keeps her in sight. She bounces between patches of grass, still somehow not catching everything on fire.

"Seems they've all got some serious personality," he quips. When he glances back down, he watches Dimitri move off. Background shadows shift as he and... something else moves. What, Sylvain isn't sure, but it hands Dimitri something. He assumes it to be another Pokemon.

Heading into town again takes far less time than he took getting out. Some part because he's got a more urgent gait to keep his ponyta in sight, and another in the fact he's got a time frame to keep up. He's pretty sure Felix would be upset if he arrived to find the spot they'd agreed on Sylvain-less.

"So you've got a rat, and what else?" He prods, finally catching up to Bonnie. Now to wait for this 'large bird' with their food.

At least if he's talking to Sylvain, he can be assured of where he is, that he's still here. If the Pokemon are reacting to him, then he's truly here and not just some figment of Dimitri's mind.

It hurts just hearing his father, his stepmother, all of those voices berating him for still being so complacent here. If he were to start hearing Sylvain too after all this time where such incidents have become less common, then Dimitri isn't sure what he would do... especially when he has the others to consider.

"Oh, more than I could introduce to you in a timely manner," Dimitri admits, double checking around the room to make sure that he is not missing anyone. When he gets to the Pokecenter, he'll have to make sure he switches out some of his team... There's someone who will be missing Sylvain and Dimitri feels they deserve a proper reunion. "It is unbelievably easy to gain many such companions here... And, while traveling, one can only keep six on their person at a time."

Probably for the best, honestly. People don't need a small army of Pokemon with them.

Satisfied that he has enough right now thanks to Silkie's preparations - oh right - Dimitri turns and picks up the Gear. "But, ah, for starts... This is Silkie. You will see her a great deal, when Felix and I bring you back here."

He turns the camera to reveal Silkie, a lovely Indeedee with smooth fur and a deceptively pleasant smile on her face. Presumably its a smile. She is a bit more animal than anything else, even if she is standing upright and those horns of hers almost look like corkscrew curls... Regardless, she gives a polite little curtsy in greeting.

So a rat, and a curtseying... cat? Sylvain's not sure what to call it, but it is cute, and the fact that it does something as human as curtsey is interesting to say the least. The little creature called Silkie gets a small wave from Sylvain.

"Look at you making so many friends," Sylvain teases, gaze shifting from the gear and up to the sky when he hears a sound. Nearing the edge of New Bark Town, he spots what he thinks is the bird he's meant to be looking out for... carrying a lot of something.

"Your Majesty," he says, tone amused, bordering on incredulous, watching this poor bird flap towards him overburdened. "I'm one guy. How much food did you order?"

"I thought you would be famished," Dimitri says simply, like this is the most simple and straightforward thing in the world. "It is winter, and you and your companion need food. It will take us some time to get there, after all... Oh, and Felix will likely reach you first."

So it just makes sense, really, which clearly shows on Dimitri's face as he picks up the Gear to get going. He'll stay on the line all the way to New Bark, of course.

He is hungry to some extent. Or he should be, logically. It's been a long day here, and had been a long day back home in Fodlan. Maybe the whole dimensional travel has thrown him off, or just plain anxiety... or maybe Dimitri just ordered too much because there's no way Sylvain thinks he could eat all of this no matter any of the circumstances.

"I hope you're bringing a big appetite too. I'm hungry enough for one. Ah, hang on-" There's a bit of shuffling about as Sylvain tries to figure out where to put his gear so the delivery Starly can hand off the food. He settles for very carefully balancing it on Bonnie's back, which gives Dimitri a lovely view of the empty sky for a moment.

When he picks it back up, coming into frame, Sylvain is laden with enough food containers for all three of them.

"Guess I should make a little picnic, huh?"

In the time that it takes for Sylvain to pick the Gear back up again, Dimitri is clearly already making a run down the street with his Gear kept as steady as possible so that it isn't bouncing. He wouldn't want to make Sylvain feel sick before he could even eat!

The sound of his voice draws Dimitri's attention again, and he smiles a bit. "It is not the most ideal of seasons for a picnic... but perhaps it would be nice regardless. I will be glad to help you finish it all off when I get there. It is something we have not gotten to do in some time, isn't it?" At least... not from Sylvain's point of view.

That's fine, Dimitri's fine. He'll just ignore that pang in his chest.

"Hey, snow picnics are perfectly acceptable." He says, as if he's making some kind of valid point. As if it also isn't extremely Faerghan of him to even suggest such a thing as voluntarily eating lunch in the snow.

"Yeah, probably not since we were little kids." He's oblivious to anything otherwise, sorry Dimitri.

"I suppose, but a nice roaring fire to contrast with the chill would make it better..." Yes, this is very Faerghan of them. It's fine. Probably.

Not Sylvain can remember something like that... Dimitri feels a slight longing in his chest thinking of time a rough year ago, as spring was sprouting across Johto. This year, he will surely do the same for Sylvain again.

"We will have to change that," he says quietly. "Sylvain... I missed you for a long time. Before coming here, even. Five years... was more than enough to show my folly to me." And there's the shift of lighting as he steps into the Pokecenter.

Sylvain lets Dimitri go on, and feels a smile gracing his lips. For Sylvain, he's been through this. He's seen the remorse and loss and grieving through to the end of the war. Missing old friends, wondering if they're even alive. How he and Felix and Ingrid had all held onto the hope that surely their dearest friend could not be dead for nearly five years. This also means perhaps Dimitri isn't from as far along as he is. A strange concept, but finding multiple people with this same dilemma has informed it's just a thing that happens.

But he's alright with assuring Dimitri it'd been mutual.

"I missed you too, big guy. And there's no need for the self-blame. I understand. I've understood for a while. I'm just happy to see you're alright. It's all I wanted for years."

Being called such fond names again... It makes Dimitri's heart ache a little bit. He really cannot wait to see Sylvain again, after all this time. It will be good to see him in person, see him smile again.

But first, he has to get there.

"We want you to be happy as well, Sylvain," Dimitri says, pausing as he looks over the terminal for the warp pad. "I will be going through a warp pad right now - teleportation - but I will be soon right on Felix's heels. So... We will see each other again." Still, he has to pause, just a moment. "I know that Felix has a monopoly on all your time, Sylvain, but... I would like it if we, too, could spend some time together. It has felt.. far too long since we have been able to enjoy each other's company properly."

He knows. He's never really doubted that his friends have wanted him to be happy. That part hasn't been the issue. It's always been with himself. The sentiment is still enough to make his smile soften.

"Felix can only handle so much of me," he teases. "I'd like to spend time with you too. I missed you for a lot of years, and then the war, and you were- uh," what's a more gentle way of putting this other than bloodthirsty and slabbering for revenge? "-kinda antisocial for a bit."

Yeah, that's good.

"Since there's horse-ish creatures here. We should go leisure riding again, like when we were kids."

"I was nothing but a wretched inhuman thing," Dimitri corrects him, gently, although he knows there is a risk of one of the others overhearing this and interjecting. Still, he doesn't want Sylvain to feel as though he has to step delicately around the matter.

Wasn't it true, in the end?

"At any rate, I will call you back in a moment after I have gone through the warp, and possibly once I am up in the air. Do enjoy the food, won't you? There are so many wonderful foods here, and the people here want for little when it comes to choice."

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Arrival; [Video]

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