Video | But home is a feeling I buried in you

[comparative_insanity]

[This... is not a Warp Band which has been active - or within range - in a long while. The image is fuzzy and looks somehow grubby, perhaps to be attributed to the fact that the device has spent almost a whole year stuffed into the bottom of a bag.

The young man on the screen, though, doesn't look like he needs any help looking like a mess.

The fair feathers covering his head are ruffled and matted, and on one side of his head they show signs of having been singed by something. What can be seen of his clothes looks like rags and tatters, repaired in places with caterpie silk, woven vines, feathers, wool... all manners of debris. The once-blue gemstone attached to his forehead looks dull, now faded from blue to dirty yellow. From what can be seen of his face and body, he's not only incredibly filthy, but also a large number of meals short of a healthy weight. He has a nasty-looking cut on the left side of his face, running right across his eye, which is swollen and looks infected.

He offers the camera a bleak, apologetic smile, and the chipper tone in his voice sounds incredibly false.]

Hello everyone. I'm, ah- My name is Fai Flourite. I went missing from Union last autumn.

[He shifts a bit. There is a muffled splash followed by the aggravated chattering of a Floette off-camera, and Fai winces.]

I'm currently a bit... stuck. I'm on my way home, but- mm, I don't think I should be Teleporting in a while just yet. Last time I did, I ended up in a swamp. Which, incidentally, is why I'm a bit stuck.

[He attempts a laugh, but it sounds pathetic. He averts his eyes, as if he can't even face the camera. His voice drops into a mumble.]

But I'm coming home. I know I must've worried some people, and... I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.

[And with that, the feed cuts out.]

Comments

[toxicrevenger]

[Pamela makes a mental note to set Fai up for a manicure sometime after the medical staff have given him the all clear to receive general visitors.]

You won't have to while I'm around, I promise.

[It's one she can easily keep considering how quickly she's able to grow plants now. She's hesitant to mention Yuui. Maybe that can wait until another time. For now, she just wants to help take care of her friend in whatever ways she can.]

[comparative_insanity]

I might never be able to thank you enough.

[Not actually for the fruit, although that's nice too. For acting as if she still is his friend. For apparently still caring, even though he had ditched everything and just left.

So even if she doesn't ask, he feels as if he owes her some kind of explanation.]

Yuui... disappeared. I haven't been able to find him. But I'm not going to stop looking. [Does he sound like someone else you know, Pamela?]

[toxicrevenger]

[That does sound awfully familiar.]

Just make sure you've had some time to recover before you go out searching again, all right?

[Because if she had a twin sister, she knows she'd be desperate to go find her, and Fai really needs to get healthier again. He was slim to begin with.]

I'll help you search.

[comparative_insanity]

[He smiles wanly, curling up a bit more where he sits.]

I will. I think I owe everyone a breather, right?

[His breathing is stuttering a bit, and it's unclear if it's from emotion or cold.]

...Thanks, Pamela. It really means a lot. And- I'm really sorry.

[He will apologize to everyone he possibly can apologize to.]

[toxicrevenger]

I'm sorry he's missing.

[Thanks for offers of help, she'll take. But Fai acting like he's done something wrong? Nope. She's glad to have her friend back.]

I'm going to give you a big hug when I see you. Don't mind the gloves. As it turns out, my nails are poisonous now.

[comparative_insanity]

[Fai rather feels as if he has done something horribly wrong, and it's jarring to him to be treated with such kindness and understanding. It's as if after months upon months of self-blame and anger with nowhere to go, he's forgotten what it feels like.

He makes a soft little sound of amusement.]

I promise I won't be affronted by your reluctance to poison me. Though right now, I think a hug from me might just be more toxic - hopefully you'll be able to get to me only after I've had a bath.

[toxicrevenger]

How fortunate for me that I'm immune to poison.

[For the first time in the conversation, Pamela smiles playfully at her friend.]

If I can handle an overly possessive baby Gastly, I think I can handle whatever you might smell like right now.