ohmyarceus | NOVEMBER - DECEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

Directly responsible? What's that supposed to mean?

[Felix frowns. Something isn't right. He hasn't seen Dimitri like this in a while. Not since...well. Since before.]

...you look terrible. [It's not unkind, for Felix, at least. He sounds concerned.] What could possibly have happened to you in a single night?

[He glances down at the pig, frown not budging an inch, but he dismisses it immediately as unimportant, deciding he does not actually care why it's walking like that.]

[Dimitri almost answers right away - that it's his fault for being a terrible leader that they're all dead - when it occurs to him just in time... that Felix is likely to get into an argument with him on if they're dead or not. He might be exactly like Claude in that respect.]

[...Actually, no. It's Felix. He'll be even worse than Claude.]

[But then Felix says something even more baffling, and Dimitri frowns, brows furrowed.]

I... do not know the difference of time between the afterlife and the world of the living, but, for me... It has been some months since I last saw Fodlan soil, Felix.

Is that what you think this is? The afterlife? Don't be absurd.

[If anything, Felix only looks more concerned now. He sighs, frustrated, his tone hardening just a little.]

I thought we were past this, Dimitri. This...obsession with the dead. You said you would focus on the living from now on. Was that just wishful thinking?

[With Dimitri talking like this, Felix isn't sure what to make of this claim.]

And I don't know what you're talking about. I was with you just last night, in Fhirdiad. You don't remember that?

[Dimitri's confusion is only growing, frustration starting to bubble up alongside it. This...]

...Exactly like Sylvain...

[It's a mutter to himself, even as Dean the Pignite trots over to keep a careful eye on him. Despite being a pig, there's clear concern on his little face too.]

He acted surprise to even see me alive... And now you, speaking of a city still clutched in the hands of that snake, of promises I would never dare to make.

[One of them is wrong here, and... Dimitri doesn't want to believe that it's him. He can barely trust what is right in front of his eyes as it is. If he's wrong here, then what else...]

[No. Absolutely not. He clenches one fist in front of his stomach, aggravation prickling at the back of his neck.]

We were at Gronder... Or preparing to be there.

[Felix scowls. Yes, something is deeply wrong. Did Dimitri somehow just...forget? Regress, somehow? Or...that can't be right. Not after a victory like that, not after the prince almost wept to see the people of the city welcome him home.]

We were at Gronder months ago. You-- [He looks away.] We won the battle, but my father took a blade meant for you. Then we marched to Fhirdiad and liberated it. ...and you don't remember any of that.

[Somehow, this isn't Dimitri. Or at least, it isn't the Dimitri he was celebrating with last night. The thought turns his stomach. So the boar has returned, has he?...but maybe this is a second chance. Maybe this time, Felix can do something. Help, somehow.]

Forget it. It doesn't matter right now. You said Sylvain was here, where is he?

[Felix may want to push what he said aside, but... It isn't that easy, for Dimitri. All he can do is stare as Felix's words stick in his head - as the idea those words describe sticks.]

No... [A small guttural sound almost more than it is a word. Dimitri steps forward, almost a stagger.] That - Felix. Please. Rodrigue is...?

[His voice cracks, anguish breaking through it like a knife, and his Pignite reaches up to help steady him.]

[Felix instantly realizes the error he's made, but he can't bring himself to look the prince in the eye. Still, the look on his face tells Dimitri everything he needs to know, and the Purrloin perched on his shoulder, tail curling loosely around his neck, makes the eye contact for him. It stares, unblinking.]

You should forget I said anything. Maybe it won't even happen when you go back, I don't know. [He folds his arms.] ...I shouldn't have brought it up.

[For a moment... Dimitri doesn't know what to say. What on earth is there to say? He's yet to run into Rodrigue here, in this place, but... he's not haunted him like a reminder of all his past mistakes, either.]

[And yet... Felix isn't like Claude. Felix is one of the only people who Dimitri ever felt truly saw him for what he was, the monster that carved a bloody path in Sreng and dragged the skin of a man over its revolting maw to hide amongst good people. And to say that of Rodrigue...]

...I... I am sorry... It should have...

[Dimitri doesn't know. He feels he knows nothing at all.]

Stop. Stop talking.

[Felix meets his gaze now, firmly and sharply.]

I don't want your apologies and I don't want to hear that it should have been you. It wasn't, and that's all there is to say. It's in the past and I'm moving forward. So are you, where I come from, for once. So don't drag me back to dwell on it here. If you're really sorry, then you'll stop it from happening when you go back there.

[The torrent of words ends abruptly in a swift intake of breath and a slow exhale.]

Now tell me about this place. You said you've been here for months. What have you been doing all that time?

...how like you...

[Dimitri isn't sure how he manages to choke the words out, but... there's some strange comfort in Felix's ways. That bluntness, that desire to only look forward, even the sharpness of his words is just somehow reassuring. Like the light sting of winter's first snowfall upon one's face.]

[Not bad. Not necessarily.

[Dimitri keeps his head bowed for a moment, mind going in circles for a long moment on the idea that he's heard... and gnawing just as much on what Felix has proposed, what he seems to believe. There is a lot of information there to turn over in his head, and, well... Right in the middle of a conversation like this isn't a suitable time for it. It takes Dimitri a moment to answer Felix's demanding questions.]

...I have been traveling with a parent and his child. Working... and learning the ways of this place.

[Remembering himself, Dimitri turns his attention down to Dean, and places a tentative hand upon the pig's head.]

They... are welcome to strangers. There is no war here. Any conflict is decided between these creatures, and they spar with one another for fun... and to stay healthy. They all hold particular affinities... This one is of fire.

[Dean nods and holds his small hooved hands in front of his face, and just... spits out a small glowing ember, one that blazes quite brightly even in the daylight.]

[Felix doesn't interrupt Dimitri's silence. He glances elsewhere, trying to come to terms with the unnerving feeling of having stepped back in time; trying not to feel as though the Dimitri who led them to victory in Fhirdiad is gone. And still...is it not a grave disservice to this Dimitri to think of him as 'lesser,' somehow?

He lets Dimitri's voice distract him from that kind of useless thinking, though he's...skeptical.]

No war? I find that hard to believe. [But his skepticism fades into interest, the more he thinks about it.] They spar, huh? I seem to remember finding a book in that room where I woke up that talked about trainers. I presume that's us? We train them to fight?

[Yes, this certainly has Felix's attention. He startles a little at the sudden display of fire magic, half-sinking into a defensive stance on instinct alone until his brain catches up.]

...I see. If this one has an affinity, I don't know what it is. Other than a penchant for petty thievery.

[He glances over to where the cat lounges, perched on his shoulder.] Well? [The cat holds up one paw and extends her claws; he could swear she's smiling. She regards them for a moment, then sheathes them again and turns to give Felix the most innocent of looks. He looks back at her, unimpressed.]

And? You're a cat. Cats have claws. That doesn't tell me anything.

[There's no reason for war in the afterlife...]

[...is what Dimitri would say if Felix wouldn't snap at him to knock it off again. Besides, that he'd say something like Dimitri moving on from his - "obsession" with the dead is...]

[Dimitri pauses, adjusting something underneath his cloak. Using his full backpack alongside his cloak has proven to be troublesome, so he's made a small change in that. There are fortunately plenty of places that sell packs to be slung over one's shoulder, or attached to a belt. There's where he's taken to storing his Pokegear, when he isn't letting his Rattata play with it.]

They know how to fight from the moment we meet... Although that does not necessarily mean they are good at it. Some require more assistance than others. A trainer is meant to act - like their commanding officer.

[It's the closest comparison Dimitri can think of, before he finally pulls out his Pokegear with the typical delicate care Dimitri handles most things. Biting down on his lip, he carefully points the Pokgear at the Purrloin and presses down the button for the Pokedex. A calm, stiff voice suddenly speaks from it.]

Purrloin, the Devious Pokemon. Type: Dark. Opponents that get drawn in by its adorable behavior come away with stinging scratches from its claws and stinging pride from its laughter. It steals things from people just to amuse itself with their frustration. A rivalry exists between this Pokémon and Nickit.

Like a commanding officer, huh? [Felix considers this. He prefers to fight alone and never did develop any skill or inclination for leading battalions, but that was when he himself was part of the battle. Training his...pet to fight for him, to compete with others? That, he thinks he can get behind.

He blinks at Dimitri's device. Does his do that, too?] Purr...loin. That joke is so bad I would have expected you to laugh at it. And I have no idea what it means that she apparently has an affinity for...the dark? Guess I'll find out.

[And the idea of a rivalry is, he has to admit, intriguing. Maybe there's a reason this particular cat took a liking to him, after all. Despite her less than helpful behavior otherwise. He gives her an evaluative look, nodding in approval.] It sounds like she'll do whatever it takes to win. I respect that.

...The adult of this particular species of pig is called an Emboar.

[Dimitri is now well acquainted with just how much pun is happening in this place. It just.. never truly occurred to him to think on that much. Huh.]

[Dimitri is kept from spacing out on that particular train of thought as he watches Felix interact with his cat. Faintly, in the back of his head, he'd always known that Felix would likely adjust well to a place like this, war back in Fodlan aside. It's the kind of thing he always felt his old friend would like: new challenges at every step, all with the intent to get better.]

[The only thing that's really missing are easily available swords, honestly.]

...Sylvain is in the town that comes after this. A three days journey.

[It's a slightly belated answer, but, well. Sometimes Dimitri's mind does this, now. At least now it's just simple shock instead of not sleeping.]

[Felix has...mixed feelings about this. It all just ends up coming out as incredulity.]

Not only is that another awful joke, but you're seriously telling me that your fighting pet...is a boar?

[He shakes his head. This is all ridiculous, all of it. But somehow, despite everything, having Dimitri here makes it all seem more real. Less overwhelming. At the mention of Sylvain, he has to take a second or two to remember what Dimitri is responding to.]

Good. Then let's go meet up with him. But if he makes even one joke about me and cats, I swear I'll kill him.

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

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felix: /speedruns dimitri's mental health

Felix: WHOOPS

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