bravenewworld | sixth snapshot [Action

[Hey, Union! It's that chatty Calderan photographer you all know and love. Hayato appears on the feed with a slight smile on his face. It not his normal humor but it looks like he's trying. Hm.]

Hey, city. Everyone still winding down after that battle? I'm still not quite sure what to make of it, but I guess we'll see what happens.

[That sounded more like a shitty attempt as small talk more than anything.]

So! Day of Fire is coming up! I don't know if you Unionites have ever heard of it, but that's what we call the summer solstice in Caldera. It's a lot of fun. It's basically just one huge party all throughout the night with dancing and singing and the Throwing of the Colors. You guys should go check it out, you won't regret it.

[His smile is much more genuine this time, at least. It honestly looks like he's got a secret he won't tell. Mostly its that he hopes Union comes and they are delighted and aghast at literally everything that transpires for this holiday. But also he feels like you guys need to lighten up and have fun. It's with that he ends the feed.]

[Action, near Downtown. OPEN]

[Hayato was never a guy who stayed at home. He could always be found out doing something.]

[This time it looks like he's trying to train one of his pokemon. He's crouched down with an Aron in front of him. In front of the Aron is two things- a small pile of scrap metal and a nice looking dagger of some kind.]

Okay. So, let's go over this again. This [He gestures to the scrap] is NikonFood. This? [He points to the weapon.] Is not food. It is Thorin's livelihood. We do not eat Thorin's livelihood okay?

[Nikon the Aron nods.]

Now, what do you eat?

[Nikon goes for the scraps! Hayato sighs in relief and just as he's about to congratulate him on being good he looks down to see the Aron has also started munching on the dagger. He sputters.]

Nikon!

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Nah. I didn't. But I did it anyway.

[he sips his ice water.]

So, to turn a phrase back on you. How long to plan on telling me nothing's up when that is so clearly not the case?

[The bartender comes back with his drink, and he looks between it and Hayato once, scrunching his face.]

Ehh. I figure probably about as long as it takes me to finish this.

Good. So finish it so we can talk. You wouldn't let me get away from anything even though I ran out of the bar, what makes you think I'm letting you get away?

[And he does this with the best intentions in mind, of course. He knows you locked yourself up in your room. He knows you didn't come back from that mission the same and it's worrying him.]

[He exhales in a half-laugh, shaking his head.]

Why do you think I asked you to come out here with me?

[But he knocks back most of the drink in one go.]

Probably because you had something you wanted to say but you needed to kill half a bottle of Union's strongest before you wanted to talk. Because you don't talk. For any reason. So if you wanted to talk it must be important.

[A beat.]

It's about Sanctuary, isn't it?

[He finishes the glass.]

See this is why I asked you to come along. I don't even have to say anything, you just know by some crazy psychic shit.

[He smiles, but doesn't actually affirm that it's about Sanctuary verbally.]

No, I just know how to pay attention.

[That was enough confirmation, though. He looks over at him.]

So...Sanctuary had a multitude of problematic situations, you gonna tell me what's specifically bothering you?

[He has an idea, but he wants Taki to say it.]

It's kinda funny, 'cause you'd think I'd be more bothered by the homunculus thing. --and I am, don't get me wrong, everything is fucked up and not okay there, too.

[He swipes his hand backward through his hair, sighing.]

...when we split off, and everybody was checking out their own paths. I guess I never really thought about what would happen to a bunch of bonded Pokemon when somebody gets put in jail.

[Ah. Yeah. That. He was glad he wasn't the one down that path because he might have flipped the fuck out and punched a few people's faces off.]

[He's quiet for a moment, sipping at his water.]

I wish I could say I was surprised. You got them all out, though. That's what's important. They're free and were able to go back to their trainers.

[He wheezes for a second in something that might be strained laughter, hand still tangled in his mess of hair.]

Yeah.

[He lets the silence drag on a little.]

But something's still bothering you. What is it?

[He calls after a bartender.]

Can I smoke in this bar?

[He. He might be avoiding that question, yeah.]

[A LOUD SIGH.]

Taki, are you really going to dodge me after the hell you went through to get what you got out of me?

That--

[He points, frowning, when he's informed he can smoke, and pulls out his pack of cigarettes, smacking them against the heel of his hand.]

Has nothing to do with this. That directly affected you as a whole and also my line of work, this does neither and there's a vague possibility that I'm getting to it.

Tauros shit. I'm Caldera's biggest chatterbox but you never say a damn word of what's on your mind. Especially, when it's something bothering you. You can make this easy or you can finish that bottle of whiskey. Either way we're not leaving until you talk.

[He's too goddamn sober for this.]

[He recoils a touch at that, very pointedly not looking at him as he puts a cigarette between his teeth and lights it, taking a good three drags before he even looks back up.]

Generally speaking there's a reason for that. I've never been good at talking, you know that.

More than I wish I did.

[He gives him a flat look, sipping his goddamn water.]

What are you afraid of, Taki?

A lot of those Pokemon were dead.

[He's not looking at him when he says it.]

[It made sense. Of course some of them wouldn't survive captivity like that, not for long, anyway. Of course they wouldn't do well with the abuse of their wardens. Of being seperated from their trainers.]

[It just hadn't occurred to him until now.]

[His eyes go wide and he goes uncharacteristically quiet.]

Probably some of the prisoners, too. So for what I did, freeing them, some of them were no better off than they were in those cages. Dead, or with no trainer to return to. I have to wonder what it's like, bonding with something, and then losing that bond to circumstances outside your control.

[He laughs, and his hand goes through his hair again.]

[It's something he's never thought about, honestly. He was never a trainer before now but thinking. WHat would have happened if he'd had Goro or any of the others before he was taken by Gigas, where would they be?]

...Shit.

[He didn't have anything to say to him. Nothing he could think of would make any of this better.]

I don't know. I never thought about it until now. I-

[Savior.]

[For once the guy with all the words is out of them. He doesn't know what else to do. After a moment he reaches over and careful sets his hand on his shoulder. It's small- minuscule really, but it's something. The only thing he could offer. He hated it.]

[He's. He's upset. He's really upset, honestly. And he doesn't know what to do with it. So he just chews on the inside of his lower lip, breathing carefully through his nose and smoothing his fingertips over his forehead, trying to reign himself in. He's not exactly the sort to cry about this situation, but it's a lot of anger and a lot of unhappiness and he doesn't quite know how to equalize it.]

[Hayato's hand startles him enough to make him jolt, and he follows the hand back to his friend's expression, a forced, crooked smile quirking his mouth. His own hand cover's Hayato's for a moment and he squeezes.]

It is what it is, I guess. It's. So much is wrong right now.

sixth snapshot [Action | Video]

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this is actually the icon i meant to use before but i somehow couldn't find it.

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