[6th Scene] [Video]

[silver_lucifer]

[There's a moment where things are silent except for the singing hum of a Vibrava's wings; half of his team's visible - Bahamut hovering behind flickering in and out of view, Karma in his arms - looking like a halfway respectable fish instead of the saddest zombie-fish ever, while Iago the Arbok has his head resting on Kuja's shoulder like an

Comments

[Action]

[usedfeint]

[You know, your pokemon aren't the only ones worried about you. Ritz is just walking over after the feed and setting a hand on his shoulder.] I could have done that, you know. You didn't have to.

[Bijou is just going to walk over and affectionate-headbutt your leg, Kuja, and most of Ritz's team is only holding off trying to be comforting because they grasp that they're huge.]

[Action]

[silver_lucifer]

[He does reach down to give Bijou an idle ear-scritch, although it's a bit absent-minded of a gesture.]

He was my brother... I should be the one to take care of things, if anyone.

[Action]

[usedfeint]

...Still. [Ritz is clearly, well, worried about Kuja. She didn't- Zidane was important, but mainly because he was Kuja's brother.] It's not like it's the end of the world, right? He's pretty smart, I don't think he'll get in too much trouble, wherever he went.

[Bijou is turning her head up to lick at Kuja's hand, grabbing it with her front feet.]

[Action]

[silver_lucifer]

[There's a faint ghost of a smile at Bijou for a moment; he's settling where he's sitting so it's easier for the Eevee.] He's from - ahead of me; from what he and the others he knew from then had said, it wasn't an exactly pleasant situation... but he does have friends, there. [And no memory of his own world, among other things.] I doubt they'd lose.

[Action]

[usedfeint]

...[Ritz is just going to nod and- yeah, you get a hug, mister.]

[Action]

[silver_lucifer]

[You know that funny confused moment where it's pretty clear this is a new and unusual thing someone has no clue how to respond to?]

[Yeah. It's one of those.]

[Action]

[usedfeint]

[Tough shit, buddy. She's going to hug you until it stops being new and unusual.]

[Action] /I have no appropriate icon so have closest to confusion I have?

[silver_lucifer]

[He does relax after a minute - human contact is nice to have, even if he's not used to genuine affection or you know, somebody actually caring about him, and he's perfectly happy to just stay still for a bit with the mess of person and pokémon, so it's a few minutes before he says anything.]

...thank you.

[Action] Poor Kuja. XD

[usedfeint]

[Ritz is smiling in what she really hopes is an encouraging way.] That's what friends are for, right? [She's going to let go, though.]

[Action]

[silver_lucifer]

[That only serves to add to the surreality of this. And yet, it does get the beginnings of a smile - there are things here he certainly wouldn't have back home.]

Not a word I'd thought I'd hear used for me.

[Action]

[usedfeint]

[...That's kind of troubling, but...] Well, get used to hearing it, because aside from a certain hair-eating bird I know, you're my best friend here.

[Action]

[silver_lucifer]

[You don't know the half of it.]

It is much appreciated. Although I know quite a few people back home that would consider this a sign of the end of the world.

[Action]

[usedfeint]

[She's judging you by what she sees here, dude.]

Some people back home would already be screaming about it because 'granny Ritz' isn't dying her hair anymore.

[Action]

[silver_lucifer]

..."Granny Ritz"? [One eyebrow goes up, and his tone on that is definitely disbelieving.]

I'm going to assume that your hair color isn't common on your world, as it would be on Gaea - it wasn't unusual to see people with that color either from birth or side effects of magic, particularly Red Mages.

[Action]

[usedfeint]

I didn't exactly hate my hair before I started getting made fun of. And no, nobody in Saint Ivalice had white or silver hair. [Ritz is folding her arms.] A lot of the Viera I met did, though- and they're the only ones who can be Red Mages... [Which is... interesting.]

[Action]

[silver_lucifer]

[Oh fourth wall knowledge of Square's artistic direction and recurring imagery.]

If it's natural, then it has to be a trait occurring somewhere in your world...

[He shrugs thoughtfully.] I wish I could say it was a reliable rule on Gaea or a common side effect, but I suspect the Red Mages affected that way was more due to juggling clashing schools of magic than anything; if they were born with it, it was coincidental. Of course, Gaea was a world where magic in general was commonplace.