Twenty-Ninth Flare - Video - ...
[It's always so funny how everything seems to start out so normal.
He wakes up. Shoves Asi and Arden off of his bed, tries to figure out how the hell Alex got into his room again. There's the sleepy stumble to the bathroom, where he takes a shower hot enough to scorch and then brushes his teeth and styles his hair, which is really getting way too long by this point. The way to the kitchen is filled with almost stumbling over his fluffy little friends, but by that point he's more awake and just laughs.
Breakfast gets cooked, like always. Lots of eggs and oranges. It's when he calls Stein's name and hears it echo in the house that he realizes something might be wrong.
Lea tries to stay calm. Tries to tell himself that Stein can't have been kidnapped again, Stein wouldn't go off and hurt anyone this soon because-
His name is missing on the SFC.
In that moment as he just stares silently at the screen, Lea feels like he's quietly suffocating, or drowning, or being weighed down with an incomparable weight, only without any of the panic that could be associated with such things. His chest hurts. His chest hurts a lot. Feeling detached, he puts the the SFC down and starts to walk down the hallway to Stein's room.
For once, neither Chocobo or Pokemon trips him up.
As he opens the closet door, Lea can't really say what he's doing, or why. It's stupid and childish. It's embarrassing. But for once, how he appears to other people... It doesn't matter. He just awkwardly shrugs on one of Stein's unique, stitched-up labcoats and wraps it tight around himself. It smells like cigarette smoke, and doesn't quite fit, meant for someone taller and more muscular and smarter than himself. Lea doesn't take it off.
Eventually, after a long while of just standing there, wrapped up in a labcoat, he realizes something. So he heads to the lab in the basement.]
Morning.
[When the SFC turns on, Lea is sitting backwards on a certain wheeled office chair. His arms are crossed over the back, and his chin rests on them. He's still wearing Stein's coat. While he looks as healthy as ever, somehow, he manages to look very worn down. There are no physical signs, but there's just something in how dull his eyes look.
Otherwise, his face is neutral. No real emotion. The same can be said for his voice, quiet and calm. Like usual for Stein's lab, the light flickers on and off sporadically. Lea couldn't bring himself to fix it.]
If you check your communicators today, you'll probably notice that Professor Franken Stein is no longer in Vatheon. If you had any business with him, you can take it up with me. My name's Lea.
For those of you who remember, he had a small group of chocobos on his property. I will also be taking care of those. If you have any chicks you took off of his hands, I can answer questions about those. If the chocobos here breed, I'll also tell everyone about them.
[So far, there's only one egg. But he doesn't plan on telling anyone about that. It's his. His and Stein's. At that moment, he blinks his eyes very rapidly a few times before finishing.]
I think that's all. Thanks.
[And the feed ends.]
He wakes up. Shoves Asi and Arden off of his bed, tries to figure out how the hell Alex got into his room again. There's the sleepy stumble to the bathroom, where he takes a shower hot enough to scorch and then brushes his teeth and styles his hair, which is really getting way too long by this point. The way to the kitchen is filled with almost stumbling over his fluffy little friends, but by that point he's more awake and just laughs.
Breakfast gets cooked, like always. Lots of eggs and oranges. It's when he calls Stein's name and hears it echo in the house that he realizes something might be wrong.
Lea tries to stay calm. Tries to tell himself that Stein can't have been kidnapped again, Stein wouldn't go off and hurt anyone this soon because-
His name is missing on the SFC.
In that moment as he just stares silently at the screen, Lea feels like he's quietly suffocating, or drowning, or being weighed down with an incomparable weight, only without any of the panic that could be associated with such things. His chest hurts. His chest hurts a lot. Feeling detached, he puts the the SFC down and starts to walk down the hallway to Stein's room.
For once, neither Chocobo or Pokemon trips him up.
As he opens the closet door, Lea can't really say what he's doing, or why. It's stupid and childish. It's embarrassing. But for once, how he appears to other people... It doesn't matter. He just awkwardly shrugs on one of Stein's unique, stitched-up labcoats and wraps it tight around himself. It smells like cigarette smoke, and doesn't quite fit, meant for someone taller and more muscular and smarter than himself. Lea doesn't take it off.
Eventually, after a long while of just standing there, wrapped up in a labcoat, he realizes something. So he heads to the lab in the basement.]
Morning.
[When the SFC turns on, Lea is sitting backwards on a certain wheeled office chair. His arms are crossed over the back, and his chin rests on them. He's still wearing Stein's coat. While he looks as healthy as ever, somehow, he manages to look very worn down. There are no physical signs, but there's just something in how dull his eyes look.
Otherwise, his face is neutral. No real emotion. The same can be said for his voice, quiet and calm. Like usual for Stein's lab, the light flickers on and off sporadically. Lea couldn't bring himself to fix it.]
If you check your communicators today, you'll probably notice that Professor Franken Stein is no longer in Vatheon. If you had any business with him, you can take it up with me. My name's Lea.
For those of you who remember, he had a small group of chocobos on his property. I will also be taking care of those. If you have any chicks you took off of his hands, I can answer questions about those. If the chocobos here breed, I'll also tell everyone about them.
[So far, there's only one egg. But he doesn't plan on telling anyone about that. It's his. His and Stein's. At that moment, he blinks his eyes very rapidly a few times before finishing.]
I think that's all. Thanks.
[And the feed ends.]