Network | [Text] --> [Video] Enter the Professor

[perfectteatime]

Greetings friends, my name is bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

there appears to be an issue with the key...

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I aaa.;iiiooo

[ The feed suddenly cuts on and you can see the sky, and a bit of minty green hair. Forgive him he's not fantastic with technology. ]

Hello- apologies. I am Byleth Eisner. I do hope this ah- this message finds you all well. I would like to possibly request a bit of help as I believe I may be slightly-

[ It shifts and you can finally see his face! Wait- no. That's an Espurr who's soul-piercing eyes strare into the camera. ]

Espurr!

Breakfast, please! I know you must be hungry, but once we find our way to civilization, I promise we can eat-

Wait- don't d- [ The last thing the video shows are some Espurr beans before the feed cuts. ]

Comments

voice;

[shiro2hero]

Is... everything all right?

[Oh boy, this poor man.] Espurrs can be a bit of a handful...

[So here's hoping this Byleth's didn't do something accidentally destructive.]

video

[perfectteatime]

Ah- yes. Everything is fine. Breakfast was just curious.

[ He tilts his head. ]

Oh? Can they be?

video

[shiro2hero]

[Oh, video it is -]

Sometimes, yeah. But - [He pauses.] - Breakfast?

[perfectteatime]

Oh! It's you. I remember you, kind of anyways.

Yes... [ He lifts the Espurr up to the screen who makes a happy chirp. ] Breakfast.

Video

[dreamsofahero]

*even when Sion hits the button to reply, there's still a moment's pause: did he hear this fellow's name right? Well, he can ask about that in a moment, in any case...*

Would you like some assistance?

((As a heads up, Sion met the Byleth who was previously in the game, and had greatly enjoyed the few conversations they had! Feel free to poke me if you want to know more, but tbh there's not a lot to tell other than "they enjoyed talking strategy/tactics together"... XD))

[perfectteatime]

Oh- yes, I would greatly appreciate it, if there is a way to just... direct me to the nearest town?

(( Oh totally down for some CR with them! ))

[dreamsofahero]

You're still in the vicinity of New Bark Town, then? If so, taking the only road out of town will bring you to Cherrygrove City after a few days' walk. Or there is a ferry you can pay to take that will bring you to another town in the opposite direction.

Oh, and if your partner is hungry, the guidebook you should have received in your bag will give you examples of berries edible to the creatures here, though most are unfit to humans.

[perfectteatime]

Possibly...? Hmm. A few days isn't so bad I suppose. This place doesn't seem to harbor much danger, at any rate.

Ah-! I see. Thank you, that is quite helpful.

Video!

[bestswordmaster]

Professor! You're back. Again. I suppose, since you remember Breakfast, that you also remember this place?

[Why could Byleth leave and return with his memories intact, but Sylvain couldn't? Ugh, whatever. There's no point in questioning why Arceus does anything anymore.]

If Breakfast is hungry, you should be able to find berries somewhere, wherever you are. Don't eat them yourself. You'll probably puke.

[perfectteatime]

Hello, Felix!

I do... kind of. I remember being here and seeing you, and having Breakfast here, but it's kind of foggy. Very strange. Like it happened in a dream, but here I am.

Berries? Just any berry?

Hmm. I wonder where I can find some human food.

[bestswordmaster]

[Felix nods, like this is normal.]

It's because the last time you were here, it was what people call a 'weird weekend.' Our Crests and magic return for just a few days, places don't stay where they should, and...sometimes people show up but don't stay.

[His eyes flick elsewhere. It's...probably best that Rodrigue and Glenn didn't stay. He hates the thought, but he's spent a decade of his life trying to leave the past where it belongs. He doesn't want to have to grieve all over again.

But Byleth is here beyond that weekend, so hopefully he'll stay for a while this time. It's...nice, having the professor here.]

Most berries you'll find in the wild are for Pokemon. Show me what you find and I'll tell you what they are. Where are you?

[perfectteatime]

Hmm. How strange, though I suppose I have been through stranger. This is still up there, though. I still expect to be waking up any moment now, though truth be told I hope I don't.

It's... actually quite nice here.

I will be sure to report my findings to you, when I locate some berries. Do you know if you are in the area?

[Video]

[sonofagautier]

"Heh, professor didn't make it much farther than me. Makes me feel a little more accomplished." Sylvain's smug face comes into view, and he offers a wink in greeting. Because that's a proper 'hello,' right?

"Glad I didn't have to miss you long. You alright?"

[Video]

[perfectteatime]

Ah! Sylvain- glad to see you too. I'm all right. A little cold, a little hungry, but nothing I haven't been through tenfold before.

I've missed you as well. It feels like it's been ages.

Re: [Video]

[sonofagautier]

"Cold? Oh right, keep forgetting it's technically winter here. Was hoping you'd develop that thick Faerghus blood eventually if you hung around us long enough."

Ages, huh? He frowns. He'd been no more than a few dozen yards from the Professor before being teleported here... Which means they're likely not from the same time frame. Weird that he has to consider these sorts of facts now.

"Ah, missed me, huh? Sweet of you to miss little old me. What's the last thing you recall before this place?"

[Video]

[perfectteatime]

"I'm fairly sure it doesn't work like that." There's a touch of fond amusement in his voice. "Of course I missed you. It was a year or so after we won the war. Everyone went their separate ways. You, Dimitri and Felix returned to Faerghus. I had to remain in Garreg Mach to attend my duties as archbishop."

Video

[vrdantwind]

[Oh boy! Looks like their beloved professor is having...a time. Claude can't help laughing about it as he takes in both the network post - please tell him you haven't already broken your Gear, Byleth? - and then the video to follow.

If Claude hasn't rushed to contact him, it's because he was confident that Dimitri would beat him to the punch - Dimitri's always been the eagerest of beavers when it comes to their professor, in the cutest way. But Dimitri hasn't contacted him yet, much to Claude's surprise when he checks, and he wonders if Dimitri's been kept occupied by the same thing that kept Claude distracted - the arrival of Sylvain. It's shaking up a lot for them all.

In a weird way, whatever Teach does is...less concerning. It's Teach. Nothing Teach does surprises Claude anymore; he's barely even able to be concerned. Not out of a lack of care, certainly, but because a guy who can cut a hole through realities and take a five-year nap is probably capable of handling just about anything this or any other world can throw at him. The most Claude can probably save him from is technical ineptitude.

Maybe. Claude has a sneaking suspicion that if anyone is going to always be chaotically terrible with technology, it's Teach. Their professor has always been a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in blank-eyed obliviousness wrapped in a fishing obsession, tied up in a paradoxical bow. Byleth being able to cut a whole back into their own world from the dimension he'd been banished to only to end up completely unable to parse buttons with letters on them sounds exactly like the kind of incomprehensible contradiction that makes up everything about Claude's countless attempts to understand anything about the professor at all. Or maybe that's his endless curiosity's equally endless frustration in the face of Byleth talking.

But only one way to find out, right? It's equally likely Teach will master the Gear by tomorrow. Everything is equally likely with Teach.

He turns on his video, grinning broadly.] Hey, Teach! You weren't gone long, huh? It's kind of weird you got dumped somewhere else, but maybe you were just angling to let Dimitri have his turn at flying you back to our place this time. I know he'll appreciate it; I don't think he's stopped pouting since.

[perfectteatime]

[ Another familiar face. Claude is rewarded with one of Byleth's tiny barely-there, sleepy-looking smiles. ]

Claude-! How wonderful to see you. It's been far too long. Hmm? Oh, no I began in Newbark I believe, I just got a bit of the wanderlust and was perhaps a bit foolhardy in my eagerness to see what there is to see here.

Oh, if he is coming to collect me then I shall stay where I am. Really? Pouting? [ A little chuff of amusement. ]

I do hope you'll allow me to have tea with you as soon as I see you.

[vrdantwind]

Too long, huh? How long has it been for you, exactly? [Claude tilts his head.]

Pouting, sulking, call it what you want. [Claude winks.] I wasn't as confident in his flying abilities as my own the last time we picked you up, so I brought you back, and you'd have thought he'd developed a cheese allergy.

Also, Teach, I'm flattered, but considering everyone who's going to be clamoring to get tea with the professor as soon as you're here, you might need to put off seeing me for a bit if we're going to keep that promise. I think your dance card's probably going to be pretty full.

STUMBLES IN FIVE MILLION YEARS LATER

[nastyboy]

[Almost literally, as a matter of fact.]

[Claude had thought that Dimitri had been busy because of Sylvain, and that is in part true - such an important part of their polycule returning so suddenly with no memory had shaken them all up so much. And yet there is a great deal more that's happening as well, with the holidays approaching, and Grant's birthday, and Dimitri's ever heightened vigilance towards Rockets considering, well. last year.]

[And, if he's honest... Gremlin fiddles with the Pokegear more than he does. It isn't unusual for Dimitri to just leave his Gear somewhere while he's off doing other things, especially if he thinks he doesn't want to lose it somewhere and risk some things.]

[Yes, that is about his Rocket bullying proclivities.]

[This morning, however, he's simply a lot busier with some of his woodworking. Dimitri has a stall at the Goldenrod Christmas Market, you see, and while it's not as though he's been made a millionaire from it, it's been nice to do, and some people seem delighted at a new trinket of their favorite Pokemon. Dimitri, with his small army of rats, knows how it feels.]

[That does mean his Gear is kind of buried underneath a bunch of stuff as he packs up his usual things. It's Gremlin who belatedly realizes that the Gear is buzzing, with some twitches of his ears, and Gremlin who begins to dig instead of playing more Super Lucario Brothers.]

[At some point, all the jostling has a video pop up that shows... just a bunch of, like. miscellaneous things. Clothes. A million of the same kind of wooden sword, it almost feels like?]

[And then... The image of what is clearly a rat, shoving his little rat body through it all.]

[And then the rat opens his mouth and okay so that's all the video feed is going to have for a while. Rat mouth. The gullet. Is this rat going to choke on camera? Don't worry about it.]

[After a little while, however, there is the muffled sound of a voice that may sound familiar...]

I hope that my knife will remain sharp enough for the rest of the month... Sharpening it in the cold is not - ah, Gremlin, what have I told you about choking on the Pokegear?

[The Gear is just spit out, showing a dizzying bunch of images as it remains still on. There is a moment of stillness, before it is gently pulled away from the ground, and....]

[Yep, there's one Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, carefully wiping the screen clear of rat spit, before he realizes who is on the video feed, and his eyes go wide.]

Professor!

[Uh oh, there's that golden retriever smile.]

[perfectteatime]

[ The whole thing is watched with that same kind of detached fascination that Byleth often holds- that is until Dimitri's face comes up on screen, and he hears his voice.

It's been a year since he saw the man, since he left for Fhirdiad... here is different, but still- he can't keep the soft smile from folding his lips up. That bright sunshine smile Dimitri has could be seen from space, and it's one of Byleth's favorite things. The ache of missing him, and all of his Lions floats to the surface. ]

Dimitri. [ There is some inflection in his voice, oddly enough, and it's very clearly a warm fondness. ]

It's been far too long. I'm so happy to see you. Was that your Pokemon just now?

[nastyboy]

[The last time Byleth had been here, it had been someone who had never gotten to know Dimitri. Not truly, at any rate, not the stalwart companions they had become in their short school year together.]

[Byleth had still cared for him, of course, had been happy to try the foods he'd introduced and keep in contact with him. Yet... It had still been clear that there was something of a distance between them that came as just a natural result of two very different sets of memories.]

[So to see that recognition in Byleth's eyes, even the tone changing...]

[Dimitri has never been able to hide his emotions, and there's some clear impact here as he takes in what this may mean for him. For any of them.]

Yes... Certainly far too long. [Even if Byleth was technically in Johto not that long ago... It is confusing, really. Dimitri tries not to dwell too long on it all.] That was Gremlin - you must be in Newbark Town, do you have a ride to get through the harsh travel? The middle of winter is no time to be traveling.

[As he talks, Gremlin scurries up expertly to perch on his shoulder, and stare into the camera with wide eyes. Hello, he is here now as well]

Video (coming in late with Starbucks)

[freckledarcher]

[Ashe woke up from a nap with Ky and Loog chirping at him while Ky held the gear. He sat up and rubbed his eyes as he looked at the screen. His sleepy mind worked hard to place the face on the screen. Wait? Is that the professor?

Ashe sat up as Loog settled in his lap and Ky pressed his own face against the screen the same time as the Espurr. Ashe eased Ky away from the screen as he waved.]

Hi professor! It's great to see you again! There are some treats and food here for your pokemon when you guys get here. I can make something for you too since I was going to get something to eat.

[He didn't mind making two things since his professor was back.]

[perfectteatime]

Oh Ashe! Indeed, you have been sorely missed. [ Honestly that's an understatement. The mention of food immediately brings that soft smile to his face. ]

I would love that. I haven't gotten to taste your delicious cooking in ages. I'm sure Breakfast will appreciate it as well.

[ Ahh, his stomach is already growling at the thought. The Espurr seems to agree, chirping excitedly in his arms. ]

[freckledarcher]

[Ashe gave a sheepish smile back. He didn't know his professor missed him so much, still it was good to see him. He got up and reached for his nearest hoodie while Ky grabbed the gear then jumped off the bed. Once Ashe got his bangs out of his eyes he reached for the gear on his way to the kitchen.]

It's no problem, Byleth. Is there anything in particular you wanted to eat? There are so many great things here that I can cook even more things than before. We should still have some homemade pokemon food for Breakfast too.

[Not that he didn't mind making food for Breakfast. An unique name for a pokemon, but very much like the professor.]