9th book; father's day {video/action for Goldenrod}

[bamfsecretary]

//video; warning for mentions of death

{When the feed clicks on, it's not immediately obvious what's happening - indeed, the scene is almost preternaturally still. A little girl with black hair slowly tiptoes across the floor towards an armchair, head cocked to the side curiously. The camera moves to follow her, and in doing so, reveals the occupant of the armchair.}

Hello, Isis. {Nanao looks old, sitting still as a statue - the Fisher King, if you would, ensconced forever on her throne. The little girl - Isis - clambers up onto her lap, burying her head beneath Nanao's chin, and whines unhappily.}

You have not been yourself, mistress. {An unfamiliar voice, wispy and thin floats out of nowhere, at least until Kiyone, her first starter and Alakazam moves forward into the picture.} What ails you?

You have my memories, do you not? {Isis curls and shifts so she too can look at the powerful Psychic - her eyes, only just visible, are the same shade of purple as Nanao's own.} That is correct.

Then I would suggest you peruse them with today's date in mind, Kiyone. {Her voice is tinged with bitterness and pain, and her arms come to hold Isis close to her chest.}

{The Alakazam is quiet for a long time, sitting cross-legged in mid-air, running through a century and a half's worth of days dated June 18.}

....I am sorry that I did not make the connection straight away, mistress. I should have checked myself. {Nanao shakes her head, and moves to stand, startling Isis, who transforms back into a Zorua. Neither the human nor the Alakazam pay this any notice.}

It is not your fault - I am just being exceptionally maudlin over events that have happened a long, long time ago. {She crosses to the window, Zorua cradled close.} By all rights, I should have forgotten....

One does not forget death easily. Especially not one's own. {Kiyone's hand closes over the 'Gear quietly, shutting it off with a flick of his claw.}

//action; Goldenrod

{In the afternoon, one might see Nanao and her considerable amount of Pokemon gracing one of Goldenrod's larger parks - the Pokemon are playing, yes, but they seem to be keeping closer to Nanao than usual. That said, they certainly will allow you to talk to her, if you so choose.}

_{{OOC: Kiyone is actually speaking English here - yes, he is now able to freak people out without telepathy. Yay? EDIT: PLEASE GO AND READ THIS FAQ, it is very important and deals with talking Pokemon! Kiyone has had over a year of practice to learn how to do this properly.}}

Comments

[video]

[greatbigrock]

<sub>[So, he's ... not there. It's kind of odd, because before Nanao disappeared, he'd almost always been around whenever something was up with her. For a while they'd lived under the same roof, after all. But then when she returned she'd been on the move, and then they'd only met for a while before Tulio and his group (and France) moved over to Kanto and Nanao stayed, and now, well, he only has video again.]

[It's weird. Not that he thinks he could do a lot better in person, but he didn't like communicating with those things as much, practical though they may be.]

[So he sighs, hesitates, and is on the feed some time later.]</sub>

Hey, so ... are you okay?

[video]

[bamfsecretary]

{She is genuinely surprised to see him - but oh, it feels good to see him, even if it is via a video screen.}

{But happiness is a frail thing with her, and she has to fight to keep it alive.}

Not really....

[video]

[greatbigrock]

<sub>[Well, you have to work to keep ANYTHING alive, in the end.]

[He runs a hand through his hair and looks at the gear a little sideways. She should know this look by now - it's the one that shows that he's unsure about how to tackle a problem.]

[But in the end, it's not like he could ignore this. He's not that kind of guy anymore, at least not with some people.]</sub>

So your death, huh?

[video]

[bamfsecretary]

{...well, that is a familiar look, and yet he's here, talking to her. "Ow her heart" would be an appropriate phrase, right about now.}

{She couldn't love him any more at this moment.}

I.... guess I never told you. Sorry.

[video]

[greatbigrock]

_{[He shrugs - he can't really blame her. He wouldn't have told her, he's pretty sure. He hasn't told her several things, after all.]}

No, I mean, that's fine. It's pretty personal.

I guess you didn't really mean for everyone to hear either, right?

[text]

[vulpesvivus]

Are you alright?

[text]

[bamfsecretary]

I am not entirely sure that I am.

[text]

[vulpesvivus]

I know the feeling, if you want to talk about it.

[text]

[bamfsecretary]

I... how do I start?

With the fact that today is the day I died over a century ago? That I'm a literal god of death who shepards spirits between the realms of the living and the dead, charged with keeping a balance between the two? That I should have forgotten my own death?

Hal, I don't even know what I'm meant to do here.

Video

[dreamsofahero]

*normally would leave something like this alone, but...*

Ah, are you aware that you were being recorded, miss?

Video

[bamfsecretary]

{There's a sad sounding chuckle.}

With my luck, there was every chance of this being recorded. It's.... well, not fine, but it was probably going to happen anyway.

Re: Video

[dreamsofahero]

*nods*

I see. I won't ask further, in that case.

Video

[bamfsecretary]

If you are curious, I will not hold it against you. This place has a way of circumventing any measures put in place to ensure privacy.

[Action]

[freezetheskies]

[It takes a bit, all things considered, but it's not long before that considerable amount of Pokemon will have a rather playful Arcanine among their number. Hina's large enough that she probably bowled someone over, too. Probably. ...Maybe.

Her trainer's got better luck, though, since he's just slowly coming up to wherever Nanao is, his face carefully kept blank. He saw the video feed, so...what can he say? It's not like remembers his death and can offer sympathy or anything. Still completely out of his element, so he'll just...stand there, close enough that she undoubtedly knows he's nearby but far enough that he doesn't encroach that much on her space if she wants it. What is knowing how to react to feels, Momthing?]

[Action]

[bamfsecretary]

{Hannibal trumpets a loud "Hello!" to Hina, whilst a Petilil wanders over to Hitsugaya, full of curiousity at his hair.}

{What do?}

[Action]

[freezetheskies]

[Hina barks to return the greeting, tail sweeping through the air as she bows onto her front legs. Can she play with you guys? Her trainer's too busy to play most days, so she'd really like it if she could play!

And what does the trainer in question do? Simple! He'll just crouch to get a better look at that Petilil, also a little curious. Never seen one of you before...]

[Action]

[bamfsecretary]

{The Petilil makes several rustle-y noises at Hitsugaya, and goes up onto tiptoes! Uwaaah, your hair is so strange!}

Hitsugaya-san, meet Meret the Petilil.

{Yeah there was no way that Kiyone wasn't going to stick his nose into this.}

[video]

[exeggutorhead]

[There are a lot of things to note about this video, like Nanao's Zorua posing as a child the way his own does, and Kiyone talking. But those aren't as important as what's being discussed. Especially now that Envy actually knows what happened.]

[There's an odd sort of frown on Envy's face, a mix of unsurety, concern, and a certain measure of possessiveness, none of which he particularly wants to let show but isn't holding back entirely anyway.]

How are you doing?

[video]

[bamfsecretary]

...horribly. {Yeah, she isn't going to bother mincing words here. Not when he knows what happened. She's curled up in the armchair again, but Isis is nowhere to be seen.}

Usually I can just force my way through it via paperwork, but... I'm not there, I'm here. {She tapers off, just sitting quietly.}

[video]

[exeggutorhead]

[Envy's frown deepens, a little. He doesn't like seeing her like this, and there's not as much that he can do to help from over the video screen and in another town.]

Maybe there's something else you can do, like training.

['Or breaking things' is the unspoken addition. HE DOESN'T KNOW but violence always makes him feel better so maybe it would help her...]

[video]

[bamfsecretary]

...or punching trees? {Her chuckle is half-hearted, and it dies away quickly.}

I'm not sure what Toshirou would say to that.

[Action]

[pianokeys]

[His usual walks sometimes take him to the parks, where it's not uncommon that he bumps into people he knows- or will know after that encounter, anyhow. It's especially nice when he bumps into those he would class as good friends.

He walks up behind, smiling as usual. Today's a nice day for him and it's showing.]

He~llo, Nanao,~

[Action]

[bamfsecretary]

{Nanao visibly starts at his voice, although she tries to cover for it.}

Good day, Other Father.

{Morpheus the Munna floats up and over to Other Father, circling around him a few time.}

Ah, Morpheus, stop that!

[Action]

[pianokeys]

[He simply stands calmly and watches the Munna, laughing a little.]

What's shakin', little Poke?

[Action]

[bamfsecretary]

He's just being a nosy little thing.

{The Munna squeaks, and floats back over to Nanao.} This is his first real excursion out with all my other Pokemon.