19 [Video + Action] - Post-event

[niepokonany]

[Video]

[On screen, Feliks is all bounce and cheer, dressed up in his nice clothes for the first time in longer than he cares to admit, smiling so much he's literally sparkling.]

Gods, how weird was all that? Does anybody know what the whole deal was down there? 'Cause I don't know about the rest of you, but my team saw some pretty crazy stuff! [That's a bit of an understatement, and he is trawling for more information with this post, but he's not one to dwell too openly or too long on the big things.]

It kinda took a bit out of me and Jadwiga and the others, actually! So we're gonna be around the city for some R+R for a little while. We'll see how long it takes me to slip past my grandparents again after all the running off I've been doing. If anybody's up for, like, shopping or a drink or some serious gossip or something, hit me up.

[Action: The Forest Shrine]



[He might smile and flutter for the camera, but Feliks hasn't been his best self lately, and coming face to face with the godly embodiment of death itself...]

[Well, he's not quite sure what effect it's had on him.]

[On the one hand, maybe it was good. It's been a long time since he was so powerfully aware of his own will to live, of how much being a part of the world still means to him. He's been forced to think about the people of Union and worry about them again, and that's probably not a bad thing, in the end.]

[Part of him almost resents it, though. It's selfish of him, but he doesn't want other worries and other obligations tearing him away from trying to get back that one important thing he lost.]

[How is he supposed to live, and get the most out of life, without giving up hope that they're out there alive somewhere?]

[He's not quite sure why he came to the Forest Shrine, other than to try and find someplace quiet to be with his thoughts. A shrine seems like a good place to think about gods, anyway, right? And with his fire typing, the forest is generally pretty safe for him to walk around alone.]

[He lies down in the grass on his back, and looks up at the long branches and their new leaves, and thinking himself free from prying eyes and the need to put on a show of being perfectly fine, quickly loses himself in thought.]

[Alternative action: Around the city]



[Feliks is going to be spending a lot of time in the shopping district (and a little time at Teeter's) over the next few days, if you'd like your character to encounter him around town!]

Comments

[rainsrespite]

[Yuuna doesn't go on. She rolls onto her side and drapes an arm over him. There's no point in fighting, and the relationship between them is so weird as it is. It started with him helping her...and now it's a total role reversal. And in a wat she feels responsible for him.]

I'm...here for you, you know that, right? However you need.

[niepokonany]

I don't need help.

[He wishes she would just leave it at that. Everything is bad enough without people worrying over him.]

[rainsrespite]

You do.

[Simple as that.]

Everyone does.

[niepokonany]

Well, obviously not everyone does, because I don't!

[His chest hurts, and his eyes sting, and he can feel himself getting mad like he did with Lenna, blinded by the pain and frustration of something he's been fighting for so long and getting nowhere with.]

[rainsrespite]

[She doesn't say a word, she just hugs him tight. If he wants to pretend that's fine.]

[niepokonany]

[His head shakes again, and he squirms, pushing her arm away. It just makes his chest hurt more -- everything that feels good, everything that should be comforting just feels like a reminder of him, and it makes things worse, makes him feel sick.]

[He thinks of death on great, red wings, and his chest is hot with rage at a thought he still can't bring himself to really face.]

Let go of me.

[rainsrespite]

[She hums softly, deep in the back of her throat, but she won't force her touch on anyone. She does, but stays near, not leaving in case he has more to say. A part of her wants to be angry, but she can't. The display is pushing the boundaries of sense as it is.]

[niepokonany]

[He wants to leave it at that, but his feelings are all stirred up now, and he doesn't know how. The more he shuts up, the more confusing and painful it gets.]

I'm not going to give up. Not while they're still out there. So--so you and everyone else can stop trying to make me!

[But he doesn't even have the comfort of that feeling right to him like it did before their trip beneath the city. It feels like he's wrong no matter what he does, and he's not someone made for moral ambiguity. Every possible choice feels wrong.]

[rainsrespite]

When have I ever told you to stop? When have I done anything but support you?

[Her voice is not hot, nor cold. It just is. She feels like she should be hurt, but she isn't. She wants what's best for him, of course. And for Yuui and Fai. She'd liked them, Yuui a lot.]

I like Fai and Yuui. I want them back too. But I also want you back. Alive.

[niepokonany]

I'm not dying. I have too much to do.

[rainsrespite]

Yes, that's what the twins would want. For you to live, and to find something to live for.

[niepokonany]

I have something to live for.

[rainsrespite]

Beyond them. To be your own person, too.

[niepokonany]

Are you saying I'm not?

[rainsrespite]

I'm saying you're getting to that point.

[niepokonany]

[He knows on some level that she's not trying to hurt him. But everything feels like an attack, and he's never been the sort to take any sort of attack lying down.]

Wow, you're so right. I should just hang around shopping and gossiping and going to parties all the time, it's not like anyone I know is missing and presumed dead or anything!

[rainsrespite]

It's been more than half a year.

[Yuuna stands up now, preparing for an outburst.]

I don't want to say it, but will you spend the rest of your life looking for them? Even if you find nothing?

[niepokonany]

[He clenches his fists, briefly having to put real focus and effort into controlling the fire side of his powers. Somehow, the weight of the glass-encased piece of Fire Stone hanging at the end of his necklace helps, but it's not easy.]

If that's all I can do!

[rainsrespite]

[She's ready, Feliks, if you try and attack her. She'd rather you didn't, but she will drop you like a stone if necessary.]

Is that what Fai would want? For you to abandon everything for him?

[niepokonany]

Well, it's not his choice, is it? If he wants to chew me out about it, he can do it when I find him!

[When. Not if, not if, not if...]

[rainsrespite]

If.

[It's all she says. She's given up on Blue. And Green. And Red. It's been too long. She can't really believe the Flourites made it through winter either.]

[niepokonany]

[He doesn't attack her, doesn't make any motion towards her, but his body shudders at that thought, giving off too much heat, flickers of flame appearing around him against his will.]

When. I told you already, I'm not turning my back on them!

[rainsrespite]

Will this go on for another year? Five? Ten?

[niepokonany]

If you woke up alone tomorrow, and no one ever saw Merrill again, how long would it take you to give up on her?

[rainsrespite]

[She very, very nearly loses her cool at that. Her fist tightens, the Ground Type plating of her gloves crunching softly. The situation is different, in a way Feliks can't possibly know. Fai didn't have to deal with Eluvian. There wasn't a murderous Spiritomb waiting to take him away the moment something happened. He was gone, but he still had his soul, wherever he was.

Her voice goes dangerously cold, her eyes steeling.]

If I woke up alone tomorrow, Feliks, I wouldn't go hunting. If I woke up alone tomorrow, I'd know exactly where to look. Because Merrill isn't missing. [She turns away.] But if she was missing? I'd hunt till the end of time, for justice. That's what Merrill would want. But our situations are different in ways you can't even imagine.