003 • [Video / Action]

[niepokonany]

[Feliks turns on the feed with a cheerful wave and an adjustment of his hair. From inside his coat, where she seems to have made her home, his baby Dratini gives a happy little peep of greeting.]

Hey! So like, I just wanted to let everyone know I'm totally gonna join this tournament thing, and I'm gonna rock it. My Pokémon friends and I are working on some sweet new moves this week, check us out!

[He angles the camera towards the clearing in the woods where he's set up camp. His Houndour, Emilia, is perhaps a little over-enthusiastically savaging a practice dummy, while Jadwiga the Ralts sits in a meditative stance, juggling rocks with her mind, and Krystyna the Vulpix works on her flames. He turns the camera back at himself.]

They're all pretty badass, so like, whoever's up against us should be ready!

[Something tugs at his sleeve, and when he turns to look at her, the camera gets bumped down enough to show Danuta the Mienfoo, looking unamused. Any Kindred Souls out there will hear her scolding Feliks for slacking off talking to his human friends; he doesn't speak Pokémon himself, but he laughs, scratching her ears.]

Okay, looks like I should get back to work, too! Ancient gods, you're so serious...

[He and his team are doing intensive training this week, but he'll get back to his replies when he can, or anyone passing through the woods can feel free to stumble in on them!]

Comments

[comparative_insanity]

[Well, if Feliks is going to do the flopping thing, then so is he. He sprawls next to the other boy, letting out a quiet sigh as a bit of tension leaves his body. There's a quiet chirp, Blossom's head appearing from under his jacket, and after a moment she slinks out to explore, walking cautiously.]

We~ell, that, or I'll be utterly terrible at helping my friends and make a fool of myself. [He shrugs lightly, not to worried despite not having huge confidence in his abilities.]

And she can probably put her talents to better use. I've had three Gardevoir's attempting to tutor me from an early age, and it's never really worked. Everything I do is so destructive, it's a bit disheartening. [Still smiling, though.]

[niepokonany]

Subtle's super overrated, anyway? But if you wanna, you know Jadwiga's way less stuck up than your family's Gardevoirs--I mean, yeah, she's always freaking out over me, but I usually kinda deserve it!

And like that's gonna happen. We're gonna go and do our best, and we're bitchin', so it'll be fine! Even if we don't win, that just means whoever won will do better at showing them what Union's got.

...But we're totally gonna!

[comparative_insanity]

[That makes him laugh, and he reaches out to give Feliks' cheek a light poke.]

You know, I think I'd give my very best shoes to be that confident. I mean, I like it! I think it's wonderful, I'm just... not very good at thinking like that.

[And normally he would defend the Pokémon in question - especially Freya and Hien, Souhi actually is kind of a bitch - but not today. Because he knows they are not on his side right now. Instead he frows and mangles a couple of leaves between his fingers.]

She's better than my entire family. Well, Yuui not counted, of course.

[niepokonany]

[He laughs, batting at Fai's hand playfully.]

Well, if I don't believe in me, who's gonna, right? Besides Jadwiga.

Or I guess the point is more... If I believe in myself, who even cares what anyone else thinks?

[He frowns a little at the mention of Fai's family, and reaches out to take his hand.] At least you're not living with them anymore, right?

[comparative_insanity]

[He can't help smiling a little bit at that, nodding. He agrees with what Feliks is saying, and he wants to be able to think like that too - he just needs to overcome the enemy in his own head first.]

[Feliks' hand in his feels good; small and warm and soft and safe, achoring him a little bit. He gives it a little squeeze, sighing.]

I'm really glad I don't, right now. They're really angry with me - I don't think I've ever seen them this angry before. At least father and uncle. Mother is just... upset.

[niepokonany]

[As oblivious as he can be, Feliks isn't going to miss THAT big of a hint that something serious happened in Chateau Flourite. Shh, that's what I'm calling it as of right now. He sits up a little, scanning Fai's face for clues, squeezing his hand a little tighter, because that's what friends do, right? He's held Imogen's hand lots before!]

How come? Did something go down?

[comparative_insanity]

[For all that even thinking about the whole mess is still uncomfortable, it's a relief to talk to someone who is not all twisted up in the whole situation. He sighs, staring at Feliks' fingers entwined in his, finding solid comfort in him being there.]

Me and Lux broke off our engagement. Neither of us wanted to marry, you know? She's like a sister to me. But our families... didn't take it too well.

[niepokonany]

[That sounds to Feliks like good news, but Fai does look upset. He tries to be sympathetic.]

[What works when his Pokémon friends or Immy are upset? Physical contact. He reaches out with his free hand to pet Fai's hair a little.]

Well, it kinda sounds to me like you two dodged a bullet, if that's how you'd feel about it? I mean, they can say what they want, but your parents and uncle weren't gonna be the ones who had to live with it.

They'll get over it, right?

[comparative_insanity]

[Fai leans gratefully into that gentle hand in his hair, and then sort of just leans sideways a bit awkwardly so he can hide his face for a moment against Feliks' arm. He doesn't want to cry, that would be embarrassing, but every time he hears someone tell him that he did the right thing, it becomes a little bit easier.]

I know we have. I mean, I think I could probably live together with her, and it would be fine? We're alike enough to stand each other and different enough to not be bored of each other, and we'd have a lot of fun. But just the thought of- of kissing her, or having to have children with her... [He shudders, making a grimace against Feliks' arm.]

It would be a disaster. But that doesn't make it feel any better to have everyone be disappointed in me, you know?

[niepokonany]

[...Hugs? Hugs are nice, yes?]

Real talk, gorgeous -- if they need to control you so much they can't even deal with you living your own life?

They need to get over themselves in like, the biggest way. They seriously don't deserve you beating yourself up over their approval.

[comparative_insanity]

[Hugs are wonderful, and just what he needs right now. And he can't help think that even though they are close, it still wouldn't feel this natural to just allow himself to be hugged by Lux. But with Feliks, it feels like something they've been doing for years.]

It's just that it's so very... important to them. It's not really about me, it's about the family.

[He sighs quietly.] But you're right. It's not fair that it should go out over me and Lux that way. We deserve being able to marry who we want, you know? - or not marry at all if we don't want to.

[niepokonany]

Dude, I think who you spend the rest of your life with kinda has a bit to do with you. Like, just a little.

Just because they think they're Queen Bitches of the Universe and everything's about them doesn't make them right about it, you know?

[comparative_insanity]

I just mean that's how they see it. And they think I should see it that way too. As in, I shouldn't think so much about what it means to me, because that's selfish.

[And he doesn't believe that's true - except he does, at the same time. It's confusing to have two different parts of him saying different things, especially when a third part just seems to want to remind him how nice Feliks smells.]

Mostly I was afraid that I was going to humiliate her by saying I didn't want her. Turns out she was worrying about the same thing. Silly, right?

[niepokonany]

Well, they're majorly full of it. Like, what do they even think you are? And how is not wanting to marry someone you're not into that way more selfish than, I don't know, telling people they have to marry so-and-so because even other people's marriages are totally all about you?

Also, let me know when you're ready to laugh about that last part, 'cause it's legit pretty hilarious.

[comparative_insanity]

[The fact that Fai laughs then too - albeit a little bit damply while not quite being ready to look up just yet - probably shows that he's pretty okay with laughing about it even now. He'd laughed about it pretty hard the first time he realized it too.]

It is pretty stupid. Especially considering how relieved we both were once we realized that neither of us wanted to marry the other, you know?

[And then he does look up, looking a tiny bit red around the eyes but definitely smiling.]

And really, I should be used to never doing things the way my family wants them. So I'll probably make a mess out of falling in love and getting married too.

[niepokonany]

It must've been super awkward!

But like, I don't think something that makes you happy can count as messing up there.

[comparative_insanity]

[He grins, a little bit embarrassed and suddenly aware of how very close to Feliks' face he is.]

Well, you never know, maybe I'll fall unhappily in love. Or marry the complete wrong person and wish I'd settled for the easy thing. Not that Lux is the kind of girl anyone "settles" for.

[He leans their foreheads together lightly, not sure if it's an okay thing to do or not.] But... well, I guess it's scary to suddenly have a choice, you know? Before if I felt bad, I could just blame my parents. Now if I mess up, it's my own fault.

[niepokonany]

Yeah, but now you have a shot at actually being happy with it. And like, if you mess up... Everyone messes up sometimes! I do it a ton, but I can always retrace my steps and figure it out.

[...Well, he bumps foreheads with Jadwiga, so it's cool, right?]

[comparative_insanity]

[And Fai leans against Yuui and his own pokémon all the time, so clearly it's not that strange, right.]

I guess. And if I get my heart broken, at least that means I actually was in love before it went south, so that's something. [He laughs quietly.] And if I just want to get naked with someone, I won't have to be a cheating asshole anymore, which is pretty nice too.

[niepokonany]

...um, right. That too!

[Simultaneously trying to not judge and not think about Fai naked.]

[comparative_insanity]

[Fai winces a little bit, an embarrassed laugh escaping him.]

Okay, maybe that was a bit too much information, huh? But, well... it will be nice to be able to just as much as look at someone else without feeling guilty for it.

[niepokonany]

[Looking on the bright side, trying to morally rationalize for Fai distracts him from any naked-thoughts.]

Well, like... I guess that's pretty fair, since you never had a choice about getting engaged to her, right?

[There, that makes more comfortable sense to him!]

[comparative_insanity]

[He sighs, grimacing and leaning back a bit again.]

Yes, but I could've broken it off sooner. I could've done it after I started getting interested in other people, or at the very least after I woke up next to Immy the first time.

[...

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OhgodohgodohGODhejustsaidthathelp.]

1/ icon spam idk

[niepokonany]

Whoa!

[niepokonany]

I, um.