leaveyourstarburning | 004. Text/Action for Goldenrod City

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004. Text/Action for Goldenrod City

[It's been a month full of crises, it seems; Zulf has been aware of the attacks, of the assaults on civilians and gyms and the Centers, and out of all of that, it's the last one that angers him most. And then there were the mutations, the illnesses, things that couldn't be fought with words or actions, leaving him feeling rather useless, all things considered.

And then had come proof that whomever had said that bad things happened in threes hadn't been wrong; the third crisis was of a far more personal nature. Zulf supposed it was selfish to allow the personal issue to cut him far more deeply than the attacks against Johto as a whole; however, he found that it was something that he couldn't help.

He allowed himself to be useless for a short while afterwards, to give himself time to recover, to not be rash; following that period, he had returned to Goldenrod City and found work immediately, among all the people that were still alive and not burnt to ashes where they stood - how long would it be before Zia could see something like this again? - and the buildings that seemed a bit too tall to be real. It was what he did when he didn't know what else to do - he threw himself into his work, whatever that may happen to be in his current location.

Today, though, he's distanced himself from all that a bit, sitting in one of the open squares near the northern side of town, close to Route 35; the park is small but nice, and he's sitting on one of the benches occupying the edge of it, in rather plain sight. There are several Pokemon playing in the grass; some are his, some aren't, but they all seem to be getting along rather well; he glances up once in a while to see what they're doing, but for the most part he seems rather content with what he's looking at, and he's rather comfortable diverting his attention back to the 'Gear, on which he's been tapping out a message to send to the network. He shifts a bit once in a while, allowing his leg to brush up against the large bag at his feet as though checking to make sure it's still there, but it's not an anxious motion, though the text itself seems to be taking a while to set up.]

For those that knew her, Zia is no longer in Johto. May she feel Mother's love and protection in our home world. She liked creatures of all sorts and enjoyed taking care of them; now that she isn't here anymore, I would like to try to do so in her stead.

My name is Zulf; the Pokemon Centers are still down, but I have good numbers of Revives and Hyper Potions. I was not affected by the mutations, but I do not fear you if you were. Should you want to avoid the public healing center in town for that reason or any other and can't afford your own healing supplies, I can be found in Goldenrod City, near the route leaving town to the north. I'm told that I dress strangely/am hard to miss, and I always have at least a Scolipede out in the area with me (her name is Hanako, she is friendly and will not try to eat you). I'll try to be there in the evenings for as long as I'm needed.

[And with that out of the way, he'll be returning to...whatever he's been doing on that bench; it appears to be playing with a few rather large skeins of string, braiding them together in what appear to be bracelets of some sort while he waits.]

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[Zulf is quiet for a moment, thinking; Archer had said he was affected by that illness. Is it possible that it's...

...no, but that's weird, though...

Only one way to find out, isn't there.]

Is everything all right between you? You don't seem like the sort to separate for very long.

No, we aren't. As I said, he had some things to attend to.

[Again there's a flash of irritation - not at Zulf, of course - but Archer crushes that as easily as he did the first time. He's perfectly fine without Kimblee. Perfectly. Fucking. Fine.]

[...again, that doesn't feel right. In Mother's name, what happened to you - and perhaps more importantly, why isn't it coming across properly? He's fairly sure emotions shouldn't do that.]

...I see. Are you all right with that? You...

[..........]

...seem upset.

I'm perfectly fine, Zulf.

[There's a bit of an edge to Archer's tone there and he looks less than pleased, but the emotional dissonance is still there. He's gotten rather good at crushing his feelings, after all!]

I appreciate your concern, but I'm not upset. It was a mutual agreement and it's not as though I've lost him for good.

[..........................hopefully.]

...that wasn't what I meant; I apologize.

[This entire experience is surreal; he can't deny that it's freaking him out quite a bit, though he's managing to keep up a rather strong calm front. He's dealt with things he's unsettled by before; open fear gets him nowhere. It's never gotten him anywhere.]

[Archer relaxes a bit, though the lack of emotion is still quite present.]

It's alright. I suppose I've been a bit tense without him here, that's all.

[Zulf pauses for a moment before continuing; he doesn't exactly want to, but morbid curiosity compels.]

Might I ask what happened?

He needed some time to work on something. Alone. That's all.

[It's a lie, a ridiculously obvious one at that. He could have come up with something better, so why didn't he? He doesn't want to discuss it. At all. But it's... it's easier to deal with things like this after he's talked about them, right? That's why Kimblee constantly pushes-- pushed him. Archer doesn't continue though; he's really not sure he wants to.]

[Zulf tips his head a bit at that, though he doesn't reply right away; he isn't sure this is something he should pursue, but the fact that the lie is so obvious...it's telling.]

...you know I'll listen if you would like to talk, Archer.

...I know.

[The confusion is obvious; he's not used to this. Kimblee always pressures him into talking. It's weird not being forced into dealing with it. He could very easily leave it be and try to change the subject to something else. This is easy; why the hell is he having such a hard time doing it?]

...We fought. He left afterwards.

[Archer turns his attention toward the bugs rather than Zulf. He has no issues lying and isn't embarrassed by that, but he just can't make eye contact with him for some reason. The feeling of relief is strong again - it legitimately feels good to admit that for some reason.]

[Zulf seems to relax a little at that; he doesn't quite understand where all the relief is coming from, but this sort of thing is something that he knows how to handle.]

What was the fight about? You don't have to go into great detail if you don't want to.

[He looks away from Archer then, so he's not just sitting there staring him down; he sets Squirt down on the bench and continues playing with that string he was braiding together earlier.]

[Archer doesn't speak for a long moment. There's really no way to explain what they fought about without going into detail. The relief is replaced with mild confusion, but Archer finally does speak.]

...We argued about the way I handled the attack on Goldenrod. I tried to keep him locked up - something I know he has an issue with - for his own safety. He obviously didn't approve of that.

[There's no way to properly explain it without making it sound like it's entirely his fault, but Archer still doesn't believe it is. Yes, what he did was terrible, but it was to keep Kimblee from getting killed or captured. It was for his own safety.]

[Zulf glances up once in a while, enough to show that he's listening; Archer has never really been one for eye contact anyway, from what he's seen, and the braiding work is calming, letting him gather his thoughts on the matter.]

What you did was very logical, I think. You knew he had an issue with being locked up, but it sounds as though you saw it as a matter of keeping him safe overall and making him unhappy for a little while, instead of letting him do what he wanted and risking his death. It's a very logical way to go about it. Obviously it would be better to see him displeased than dead.

Your friend, on the other hand, seems more freespirited than logical. It's not...bad, exactly, but he lives for what's happening to him now, and deals with the effects as they come. People like that tend to see the future as following what's happening right now - it sounds obvious to just say it like that, but it's the difference between thinking that it's better to see him displeased than dead, and thinking that you're harming him now and there's nothing to stop you from doing that in the future. "Why" probably doesn't matter very much to him in situations like that; he just knows what's happening is something he has serious issues with, and he wants to protect himself from that ever happening again.

I obviously just know what I've seen of him, so I might be wrong. But I don't think you were wrong to protect him. He's not wrong in wanting to defend himself if he had problems with your methods, either, but you weren't wrong in using them.

[Archer listens silently, tipping his head slightly and returning his gaze to Zulf. So this... isn't about who's right and who's wrong, but rather about a different interpretation of things entirely?]

[It takes a moment, but the confusion finally gives way to something that seems to startle Archer a bit: happiness. He understands. This entire time he's been beating himself up because he couldn't fathom why Kimblee didn't get it, but Zulf's explained it and now that he understands where Kimblee is coming from he can fix things. Archer's expression doesn't change much, but the relief is quite obvious.]

...Thank you, Zulf. I suppose I needed to hear that. I hadn't been able to figure out why he was so upset and this... this makes perfect sense.

[He smiles at that, actually; that weirdly solemn look still hasn't left his eyes, but he does seem legitimately pleased.]

Differences in thinking are something I specialize in, you might say; I need to understand them so I can do my work back home.

I'm glad to help you, Archer.

You're quite good at it.

[Archer doesn't notice that look in Zulf's eyes - that would require making eye contact, after all!]

I really appreciate it. Thank you.

[He seems to tense up quite a bit at that assertion. You're quite good at it. Not good enough, apparently; if he had been, then the Calamity wouldn't have -

...or perhaps he just wasn't quick enough, there's nothing to say that he couldn't have prevented it, he just hadn't reached the right people quickly enough and -

...and damn it, Zia was just sent back to that hellhole and -

He shakes his head after a moment, as though to clear it; the thoughts were fleeting, and he's not exactly aware of how much his expression has darkened in that brief moment - what matters is that he managed to set everything back to neutral.]

Don't mention it. It's a pleasure.

[Archer doesn't say anything for a moment, watching as Zulf's expression darkens. He has never been particularly good at reading people, but he recognizes that. It's something he's done before - numerous times. It's most likely none of his business, but none of this was any of Zulf's business and he asked about it.]

Is something wrong?

[His voice is carefully controlled, but his expression is at least striving for sympathy.]

I...

[He hesitates a bit before continuing; Archer had opened up to him earlier, and while Zulf doesn't like talking about his problems, he does trust him enough to at least give him an honest answer.]

Yes, something like that, but it'll be fine before long.

...If you ever need anything, you can get in contact with me. I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but I would like to return the favor.

[That is genuine, for once. Archer normally couldn't care less about other people. Kimblee is about the only exception here in Johto. Apparently Zulf has made it onto that incredibly tiny list as well.]

[He hesitates again, awkwardly, before speaking again, allowing his gaze to drop back to his work with that string as he does so.]

...I'm just concerned for Zia, that's all.

You said she's returned home, correct? Was something happening?

...it's more like something already happened. Bad enough to make neither of us want to return.

...Do you want to talk about it?

Ah, it...

[There's a brief moment of mental flailing that's incredibly obvious in his expression, wide-eyed and somewhat like his entire brain has just started crying; he seems to bite it back quickly, however, his tone immediately shifting into something that's a bit...too calm and pleasant, obviously forced.]

The world we're from isn't a terribly good one. There was a lot of...destruction, recently, a lot of damage done to...our homes, and it just isn't terribly good, and Zia has a tendency to run off and I...

[He can hear his voice becoming more rapid as he speaks; he pauses for a moment, closing his eyes while he gets control over himself.]

...I just worry about her, that's all.

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