[06] video

[purramedic]

[Anders, still done up for work, looks rather unimpressed as he starts to broadcast from his hotel room. Without a word yet, he turns the video onto a Pokemon that no longer matches his adorable Skitty scrubs. Pinsy is flopped over on the bed, her much bigger body dwarfing the pillow she's stretched out on.]

I come home to find that somebody took it upon herself to dig a very special stone out of my bag.

I would say she looks far more regal, but she seems to be even lazier now. As if I thought it was possible.

[Just for emphasis, he extends a hand to lift one of her paws and drop it back onto the sheets, repeatedly, and the Delcatty's only reaction is a tired stare toward the camera.]

Incredible. I thought evolution was meant to make Pokemon stronger.

Comments

[purramedic]

[Excuse you, Pinsy isn't cute anymore. Now she's beautiful. The most majestic... loaf. Yeah, okay, point taken.]

Are you? That'll work out wonderfully, then. New, neutral ground for all of us.

[OR, just consider this briefly, Anders can teach Jean about this cool new thing he found at a store called sunscreen.]

[notvaljean]

[The finest loaf imaginable.]

I'll let you know when we get there, and then we can have a battle on the beach.

[Oh gods, please introduce him to the miracles of sunscreen, he's going to be so miserable and sunburned without it.]

[purramedic]

That sounds like a plan.

I always have wanted to run away to the islands. [His very own beach episode.] Have you been anywhere like it before?

[notvaljean]

[It's the Beach OVA!]

No, not even remotely.

[A short pause before Jean continues.]

I live behind a wall in my world. Everyone does. Everything behind the walls is basically the same. We don't know what's on the other side, but we definitely don't have an ocean behind them.

[purramedic]

[What does that even mean.]

A wall, like a fortress? [Because oh boy if Jean has been forcibly trapped in a tiny space his entire life Anders is going to have Words.]

[notvaljean]

Kind of? I mean, the walls are big. We have room to move around in them. But we can't leave. It's too dangerous to go outside the walls because of the titans.

[For a long time, Jean didn't even consider the walls weird; they were just normal. But lately he's had some uncomfortable realizations about them and the state of their world.]

[#woke]

[purramedic]

[Unfortunately, his mind is still building up taller walls in a tiny enclosure. But there is something in there slightly more concerning, different enough to throw him off.]

What are the titans?

[notvaljean]

Man-eating giants. They live on the other side of the walls, so we're trapped behind them.

[A long pause before Jean admits the next part.]

They killed my best friend.

[purramedic]

["Holy shit" would be a little bit of an understatement. It explains a lot, but also begs more questions.]

Your friend in the military? [He tries to keep his tone level, but can't hide some shock. They had teenagers fighting man-eating giants? Even the Wardens didn't usually conscript people that young.]

[notvaljean]

Yeah. We were supposed to graduate the day before. But then the titans attacked and...

[And really, what more needs to be said?]

He was sixteen.

[purramedic]

[Maybe he'd never lost anyone he was particularly close to in battle, but Anders still feels for Jean's loss. Though on some level, after hearing these details, he's shocked at how well Jean seems to be coping, moments of upset like this aside. Then again, he knows a thing or two about bottling up emotions.]

I'm sorry for bringing up something so unpleasant. If you ever need anything, someone to listen, I'm here.

[notvaljean]

[It's been about six months, from Jean's perspective. Pokemon world is a good place to heal, and start to be a teenager for the first time. There are still days, though, when Jean needs to go wander the woods with Blitz and be alone with his thoughts.]

It's okay, you didn't know.

[Another pause.]

I keep hoping he'll show up here. He'd like it here. He'd like you. You'd like him.

[Everyone likes Marco. Usually more than they like Jean.]

[purramedic]

I'm sure I would, judging by what you've said of him. He sounds like a good man. [It feels a bit double-edged, using that word -- it's only respectful to someone who died in the line of duty, even though someone their age shouldn't have to.

As Jean has heard, Anders knows that particular hope well.]

There are people who come here after their death elsewhere. [Maybe it's incredibly optimistic, but he doesn't want Jean to give up on the idea.] Don't fall under the impression that you can't be realistic and have hope. It can carry you when you have little else.

[notvaljean]

He was. He was... a lot better than me.

[A hint at some of Jean's deep guilt: why did someone like Marco die when someone like Jean survived? How is that fair? How is that just? Shouldn't the gods take the shitty people and leave the good ones behind, where they're needed?]

I know. I just... I keep hoping the next one will be him.

[Another pause.]

Is that like your friend? The one you miss so bad from back in your world?

[purramedic]

The best people give everything for the rest of us. It's the way of the world. [It's fucking bullshit, but it's true. Only good people stick their necks out for others selflessly, and someone's luck always runs out sooner or later.]

Sometimes. [In reality, he thinks about it all the time -- how happy he'd be, what he'd say and do if Justice showed up out of the blue.] We were inseparable for years, but we couldn't speak to one another. Just to hear his voice again, I would... [He catches himself, shaking his head.] It's... for the better that he doesn't come. Hawke has no love for him, and he would hate it here.

ANDERS NO I read your Wiki and this is weird and creepy

[notvaljean]

[Jean nods. That... that sounds about right. He himself might have devoted his heart to humanity, but he only did it because said heart got broken by Marco's death.]

What? Why would he hate it here?

[Here is great! Here is much better than Jean's world, and it frankly sounds better than Anders' world too.]

LISTEn sharing a body makes you codependent, probably

[purramedic]

[Anders would probably only be happier with Johto itself if it didn't take away his magic, but that probably isn't the case for all Thedosians.]

He doesn't like being idle, for one -- he's very resolute, always looking for people to help, rights to wrong. He wouldn't know what to do with himself.

As for keeping Pokemon... I had a cat around the time we first met, and he accused me of enslaving it. [Okay, maybe the mental image of Justice being forced by the powers that be to cope with "owning" an animal is kind of hilarious to Anders, and he even smiles a little, if bitterly.] No, I don't think it'd suit him.

[notvaljean]

What?

[This is a very serious conversation, but Jean can't help snorting a little.]

How do you enslave a cat? It's not like they listen anyway!

[purramedic]

[Anders doesn't seem to have a problem with it. It isn't often he gets to recall these things in an honestly lighthearted way, and for once this is amusing in spite of everything.]

Exactly! That kitten would charge Darkspawn at his own behest. I seriously doubt he resented snuggling up in some warm, cozy robes for a while.

[notvaljean]

[Hey, if it's got Anders cheering up a little, Jean is going to run with it. Besides, this is practically their routine by now: discuss something upsetting, get sad and/or depressed, cheer each other up.]

I mean, if a cat doesn't like you, it just leaves, right? Unless you had that kitten in chains all the time [Jean's tone implies how foolish he finds that very idea, having known Anders], I'm sure it wasn't a slave.