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[indigo_events]

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Dedue Molinaro | FE:3H

[donoteattheweeds]

A. Fuck the postal service, there's nobody more reliable than Dedue fucking Molinaro when he sets out to deliver (Olivine City)

When Dedue arrives in this strange new world, he has one main priority:

Find His Highness.

He had only recently been reunited with his lord after the battle at the Great Bridge of Myrddin, and now he has, once again, been pulled away. This time, at least, he isn't in a prison cell awaiting execution-- an exceptionally low bar to pass, but sometimes one has to take what small victories one can get. He has his freedom, a small amount of supplies, a strange device, and an even stranger companion. He has operated in far worse conditions than these.

After some time spent learning the intricacies of this device and its 'network', Dedue can begin his reconnoitering in earnest. He labored for five years tracking Dimitri's path of destruction throughout the continent without the benefit of a device like this; surely he wouldn't require so much time to find the man now. He is rewarded for his search with a series of posts that Dimitri has either made or responded to, providing him with a timeline for his movements in this world. Eventually, he gathers enough information to have the name of a city-- the last place that Dimitri was seen in.

It's simple enough to find that city on his map and plot the fastest path from his current location to that one. It will take time, of course, to walk all the way there, but Dedue has been a foot soldier for many years now. If he can trek for miles in heavy armor, he can certainly do it in civilian clothes with fair weather.

When Dedue sets out, he does not intend to stop for any reason other than to catch a few hours of necessary sleep. He walks through most of the night, he eats his meals as he goes. He continues, unerring and implacable, on his path like a one-man invasion force regardless of wind or rain or dark of night. There is a brief time, when he's on the road just outside of Violet City, that he considers whether he should have sent a message to His Highness to inform him of his arrival, but-- if he did so, he knows that Dimitri would leave to try to meet him along the way. Rather than inconvenience him in such a fashion, it is simpler for the vassal to go to the lord.

So, many days later, he stands before the front door of a house near Olivine City. He raises a hand and knocks on it-- two sharp raps. When it's answered, he says,

"My apologies. I seem to have arrived late again."

B. Shoulder Turtle (Multiple Locations)

During Dedue's long march across Johto to reunite with His Highness, it is, on occasion, necessary for him to stop for a while in towns, in order to either resupply his provisions or to work for a while to have the necessary money for said provisions. Thankfully, there's never a shortage of work for a man as large and strong as Dedue, so he is able to make back his funds through running deliveries and unloading freight. The work is, perhaps, laborious, but no more so than any other work that he's had to do in the last five years, and he takes to it readily.

You may, then, find your delivery order being brought to you by a very polite 6'8 brick shithouse. Or you may find him in the markets, picking out groceries for the road with a Turtwig balanced on one of his massive shoulders like a very strange cat. He occasionally consults with the aforementioned shoulder turtle, as one might when planning out what to cook for dinner with a friend.

He does, after all, plan on making meals for his companion; it's only courteous to make sure that the food will be to both of their liking.

C. Wildcard

((Hit me up at inkblotmeringue if you want something in particular))

A

[vrdantwind]

Dedue may be faintly surprised when, of all people, it's Claude von Riegan who opens the door. He's definitely less surprised than Claude himself, whose mouth actually falls open as he stares for a moment. Not many people get the chance to thoroughly surprise Claude, so really, Dedue should enjoy this moment while it lasts.

But then he's breaking into a brilliant grin. "Dedue! Oh, man, I can't believe you're back! Goddess, I take back all those bad things I said about you." This last sentence is delivered towards the sky, before Claude reaches out to tug at Dedue's arm. This will be like tugging at a firmly anchored support beam unless Dedue cooperates with the pull, but Claude accompanies them with the magic words. "C'mon, Dimitri's going to be so happy to see you that I think he might pass out."

Claude's so excited on Dimitri's behalf that he's being a little overly familiar here, but Dedue probably won't care in the least if it means Claude is going to get him to Dimitri speedily. Claude's also said some puzzling things, but will Dedue bother to stop and ask about them before he's found Dimitri and settled himself comfortably into his position as vassal again? Quite possibly not.

[donoteattheweeds]

Dedue did not expect to see Claude in the doorway, but he supposes that he can take it. There is, also, some amount of satisfaction to be gained from the gobsmacked look on his face, just because it's so rare for anyone to get the better of him. Claude grabs him by the arm and Dedue allows himself to be pulled along, mostly because Claude knows where Dimitri is and Dedue's sole objective is to find His Highness again. All of the strange things that are coming out of Claude's mouth can be dealt with later, if at all. And, really, when has Claude saying strange things ever been unusual?

"Claude." He stops, which would have the added effect of bringing Claude to a stop as well so long as he still holds on to Dedue's arm. "How long has His Highness been here?"

After Myrddin, Dedue had been able to observe Dimitri's general state and found him... not well. It had been five years since he'd been able to watch over His Highness, and his condition had deteriorated significantly over that time-- muttering to his ghosts, haunting the cathedral at all hours. What would he be like now, if he had been taken from his war and his obsessions so close to Gronder, where he would have another chance at Edelgard's head?

Helping get James in quickly before zie vibrates out of zir skin

[vrdantwind]

That certainly does bring Claude up short, although he's only surprised rather than put out, looking back at Dedue. "Huh? Oh, I guess you probably have no idea how long it's been...I think it's been a few months short of a year for him?"

Claude is operating under the assumption that Dedue remembers his last visit here. But even if he did, how would he know how long he's been away?

That said, he's not really going to take the time to dwell on it. Claude's no more interested in delaying Dimitri and Dedue's reunion than either of them would be. So rather than continuing to pull Dedue along - especially since Claude himself isn't quite sure what room Dimitri is in right this second - he turns to call into the rest of the house. "Hey, Dimitri! Someone's here to see you!"

STUMBLES IN

[nastyboy]

"COMING!" comes a familiar face from... downwards, because, as it turns out, Dimitri was in the basement with some of his Pokemon at the time Dedue decided to visit. Mostly it's been Nicholas, one of his most recent companions from their trip up to the Blackthorn area.

It always helps to learn more about one's most immediate companions, after all... So Dimitri takes a moment to gather the purple bird up into his arms, before hastily making his way up the stairs. When one has company, dallying is rather rude, after all. Still, as he goes up them, he wonders who it could be...

A part of him almost wonders if it's Zuke, but, no, that's not right. Even as he speaks, Zuke should be in Cerulean City getting ready for his latest job. Who else would want to come see him? Perhaps Rei? He's told her where he lives, he's fairly certain... Or maybe it's Geralt? Except that doesn't make sense. If it were someone they were all familiar with, then surely Claude would just say that...

Everything makes sense when he finally pokes his head into the entrance area, Nicholas peering around with him. The response is instantaneous: his eye goes wide, and he's rushing forward before he even realizes his brain ordered his body to do it. "Dedue!!!"

On Dedue's end, the differences from the last time he saw Dimitri are small but undoubtedly noticeable to his eye. While the bags under his gaze are still there, they're not nearly as intense as they were back in Garreg Mach. His hair is longer as well too, thanks to over half a year of not cutting any of it. But despite that, he looks healthier, with a good tone to his skin that speaks of regular eating, and he's certainly not lacking in energy.

[donoteattheweeds]

Nearly a year.

And yet Claude seems so carefree, so easy as he talks about this. Unconcerned. Is that indicative of another major chance in Dimitri, or is Claude simply being cavalier? He won't know until--

Dimitri's voice drifts up from below, and Dedue can hear his heavy footfalls as he makes his way up the stairs. There's a distinct cadence to the way he takes the stairs when he's in a hurry, and Dedue would know it even in his sleep. A blond head pokes around the corner, hair even longer than he remembers and probably in need of a trim, but, at least, more neatly kept. His blue eye is clear and bright and present in a face that no longer looks sallow and wan.

Dedue takes a few steps towards Dimitri as the other man rushes towards him, meeting him in the middle. He wants to reach out to him and touch him, because though he has never been plagued by ghosts he almost expects this healthier vision of his lord to be some kind of mirage. It would be vastly inappropriate, though, for a vassal to do such a thing, to take such liberties. His hands flex briefly at his sides, and release.

"Your Highness," he says, and there is a slight tightness to his tone that may easily be missed by anyone but Dimitri-- worry, and relief. Not only is Dimitri alive, but he seems, somehow, to be relatively well. "It seems that I have arrived late again. My apologies."

It's fine, he just walked across the entire breadth of this country in what was probably record time and stalked tracked you via your network posts and had what was probably an immensely awkward conversation with your inexplicable fan club in order to make it to this house. You might say that he walked 500 miles and then walked 500 more.

[vrdantwind]

Claude, for his part, is watching them both with a wide smile. "I think that's my cue to bow out," he says with a chuckle. "I'm sure you guys have a lot to catch up on."

He knows Dimitri would readily split his attention between Dedue and himself, if he needed to; Claude just doesn't see why it's necessary to ask Dimitri to do that right now.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" And, unless he's stopped, he'll slip out of the room. Time to go drop a word in Ashe's ear that one of their Lions has showed up, and in particular that a big guy like Dedue might be hungry.

A (sorry about him fhskfn)

[bestswordmaster]

As Felix approaches the door, Dedue can probably hear him talking to someone— “…last time, I am not baking anything.” Creme… “How do you even—“

That’s when the door opens and Felix goes silent, eyes widening slightly when he sees who’s at the door. The walking pile of mint cake and whipped cream he was talking to blinks up at Dedue as well.

Then Felix’s expression sours into a mild scowl. “So. You’re back. Save your apologies, Dimitri isn’t here right now. So you can go bother someone else.”

never apologize for felix

[donoteattheweeds]

As someone approaches the door, Dedue can hear the familiar voice behind it-- Felix. He prepares himself in those few moments before the door opens.

Felix answers with roughly the amount of hostility that Dedue expects from him, his face set in a scowl as soon as he looks upon Dedue's face. Or, rather, looks approximately upon Dedue's chest, then has to look up at his face. Five years has not changed him much.

"I see. Then I will wait for him to return."

And he does not move from the door, as he intends to wait here, at the house, because that's where Dimitri lives. Move aside, Felix, and let him in.

[bestswordmaster]

"Ugh. Of course you will."

Felix considers just closing the door and letting Dedue wait on the front stoop, but everyone else in the house would probably chastise him for that, and he doesn't feel like dealing with that headache. So he rolls his eyes and backs up to make room for Dedue to enter.

The house is full of Pokemon, of course, and right here in the living room where Felix has been practicing with his guitar and going over strategies for integrating Kendal smoothly into the team, there are...a lot of cats and cat-like Pokemon. The house is also full of random things that belong to various inhabitants, and a bunch of framed photos scattered about.

Felix doesn't sit back down with his instrument just yet, though. He stands near it with his arms folded instead and waits to see whether Dedue will sit or ask questions or just stand there like a statue or what.

[donoteattheweeds]

Really, did Felix expect anything less?

Dedue walks inside once Felix vacates the doorway, looking around at the room that he's just entered. The most obvious thing about it is that it's a very lived-in space, with traces of various inhabitants laying around. There are plenty of these strange beasts wandering about, as well-- Pokémon, he's learned they're called-- and many of them are noticeably cat-like. This makes sense, for creatures that belong to Felix, as like tends to attract like. Dedue catches glimpses of the pictures in their frames on a few surfaces, familiar faces looking out but set in unfamiliar locations.

Felix, with a musical instrument.

Had Felix anything even resembling manners, he should have at least offered him a seat, or to put on a pot of tea, or any number of minor niceties. Since it's Felix, though, Dedue expects none of this, and is aware that if he wants anything, he'll have to state it directly.

"May I sit?"

Felix could deny him, in which case Dedue would be completely willing to loom over him like a fucking gargoyle until Dimitri returns, however long that ends up being.

[bestswordmaster]

Felix did not expect anything less, but that doesn't mean he won't grumble about it anyway.

"What do you think all these chairs are here for?" He gestures, as though Dedue should somehow have known that Felix was fine with him sitting down, or as though guests had no reason to ask such questions. He waits until Dedue is seated before he sits back down himself, beside the guitar this time. His Sylveon immediately leaps up from the floor to his lap to receive idle pets.

He has questions, but he's not really sure how much he cares about the answers, and talking to Dedue is not his favorite pastime. Eventually, he goes with, "How did you know where to find us? We didn't have this place last time you were here."

[donoteattheweeds]

Dedue chooses a seat at a comfortable distance away from Felix, facing him so that whatever limited amount of conversation that they have is not as awkward as it could be. For a minute or two while Felix settles himself back down again near his instrument and his large, oddly-colored cat lounges with him, Dedue observes his surroundings again. His attention is taken for a bit by a picture on the coffee table, one with Felix and Sylvain in it-- they are both dressed in what appears to be formal attire, and Sylvain grins broadly, happily.

He turns his head back towards Felix when he starts speaking again. The question is a fair one, he supposes, but the comment after it is... odd.

"His Highness' presence on the network was easy enough to discover," he says. "And there is a strange group of people who are very knowledgeable about your whereabouts."

It's not being a stalker if Dedue is doing it to find His Highness, okay. But he's probably going to need an explanation at some point for why that whole fan club thing exists.

"But what you do mean by last time?"

B, for a change of pace

[aromancy]

There are not a lot of people who can come close to a 6'8 brick shithouse, and yet, surprisingly, the pretty blond thing that ends up besides him at the market seems to hit fairly close. Elizabetta, after all, is well over six feet tall herself, and tends to stand out in a crowd for it. It's something she hardly ever thinks about, really.

Instead, all of her attention is focused purely on the array of vegetables and fruits that are in front of her, one hand pressed against her cheek. In theory, grocery shopping is not that difficult an experience. Sure, one may want to make a shopping list so that they don't forget anything, and to plan for meals... but it shouldn't be too much of a struggle.

One would not think that judging by Elizabetta's furrowed brow as she stares down at it all, thinking carefully while a Vulpix stands guard at her feet.

Well, this is getting nowhere, and she turns to the man and his turtle besides. "Excuse me, but could I ask you a question?"

[donoteattheweeds]

There are few women, either in Faerghus or the other countries of Fodlan, who could stand at equal height with Dedue. Few men, as well, though some at least came close enough that Dedue didn't have to crane his neck to look them in the eye. So it's almost refreshing to be addressed by a woman who is near enough in height to seem... normal, and addressed politely at that.

He turns to her, lowering the produce that he had been holding up for his Turtwig to inspect.

"Certainly," he replies. There's no reason not to; answering a few questions will hardly impact his traveling schedule. "How can I be of assistance?"

[aromancy]

In the back of her head, along the regular bodily functions for "breathing" and "blinking", a part of Elizabetta's brain starts to take notes instantly based off of just that one response to her.

He's receptive to strangers, meaning that he's at least inclined more to manners and not starting up something over nothing. That's good, because, as far as she's concerned, it at least gives her a foot in the door already. Apathy is the hardest opponent in connections between people, after all. Then there's how confident and factual he is about answering her question, even though he doesn't know what it is yet, and he seemed to be considering his choices with the gaze of someone who knew what he was looking for.

Definitely the right person to talk to!

None of this she consciously thinks about as she smiles gratefully up at her new acquaintance. "Oh, thank you so much! My name is Elizabetta Ix, by the way, but just call me Eliza. Now..." With one set of fingers delicately placed against her cheek, she uses her other hand to point down at the vegetables. "Are all of these defanged and freed of any poison sacs, or are we expected to do that ourselves...?"

She's still adjusting to the change in culture, you see, and she couldn't find any posts, signs, or labels indicating as such.

...Dedue may want to rethink his assessment of Eliza as 'normal' for right now.

[donoteattheweeds]

The expression of gratitude on this woman's face for doing nothing but responding politely to her question is... strange. She doesn't even appear to be off-put by Dedue's stern, scarred face, which is a bit of a novel situation for him to be in. He has some amount of hope that this social interaction will go well, and he will be able to assist her with whatever her problem is before they both go on their separate ways.

That is, until she gets to the part about teeth and poison sacs. Dedue has been asked many questions about the culinary arts by his compatriots, ranging from preparation techniques to spice use to how to tell if produce is ripe. He has never been asked this question before.

Is this... is this a joke? He can't tell. This has never happened to him before. Dedue has no choice but to respond as though this is a serious inquiry and hope for the best.

"Miss, these are vegetables."

[aromancy]

Good news: this is a serious inquiry.

Bad news: this is a serious inquiry.

"Oh, I know," Eliza says with that same, simple cheeriness as before. Although he likely didn't interact with him very much before, Dedue may be having flashbacks to one Raphael Kirsten. It is the exact same vibe: one of a completely empty skull. "I read the sign that this was the produce section."

Still, the question does seem to be an odd one, judging by the slight shift in his expression, and Eliza pulls her hand back. "I suppose that was a silly question? I'm new in town, so I'm not sure about what things are just assumed here, you see. So does that mean they are defanged?"

[donoteattheweeds]

If this is a joke, Dedue is fairly certain that this would be the point where said joke would be revealed, so her continued sincerity must be genuine. And she does, indeed, bear a kind of... passing resemblance to one of his old schoolmates, which does help to convince Dedue that she's being earnest.

And she is apparently new in town?

"I see," Dedue says, which is entirely a placeholder as he tries to determine a reasonable explanation for why someone would ask if their eggplant has teeth. Is it an issue of translation, and she means something else but only knows this particular word to describe it? It doesn't seem like that's the case, and he hadn't encountered any previous problems with language barriers, either.

"I do not believe that vegetables usually grow teeth here." He sure hopes that they don't, because none of the materials that he'd received mentioned anything like that and it would be a hell of a surprise to bite into a tomato and find out that it bites back. "There is some produce that is fit only for consumption by Pokemon, but it is clearly marked. I understand that it will make humans ill if they eat it, but not fatally so."

A

[freckledarcher]

"Coming!" Ashe called as he walked over to the front door. When he opened the door he stopped at the person on their doorstep before breaking out in a huge grin. "Dedue! Hello! I'm so happy to see you!"

Ky, his Piplup, looked between Ashe and Dedue before he started chirping at him. Ashe smiled as he knelt down and rubbed his head. "He's a friend from back home. He's good, I promise."

Ky walked up to Dedue and examined him for a bit then walked back to Ashe. Ashe gave a sheepish smile. "Please, don't mind him, he's protective. Come on in! Dimitri is out right now, but he'll be so happy to know you're here. I just finished making some sandwiches if you're hungry. If not, I can make some tea." He stepped aside for Dedue to come in. Sorry, if he's offering so many options at once, he's just really happy to see him.

[donoteattheweeds]

The door opens to reveal a familiar, friendly face and a person who is actually happy to see him. Dedue's stern countenance softens a little at the sight, which is basically as good as a smile for him.

"Hello, Ashe," he says, and, after being examined by the small blue bird creature-- and perhaps not being judged terribly favorably, what an odd experience-- follows him inside. It's disappointing that Dimitri isn't in, but Dedue has walked across the breadth of this entire country to reunite with him, so what's a little bit of waiting? His Highness is not in danger right now, and Dedue can afford to be patient.

"I would appreciate some tea." Really, tea and the opportunity to sit down for a while sounds more than just good. "I've had a long walk."

[freckledarcher]

Don't worry Ky will warm up to Dedue after Ashe let him know more about Dedue. It's been awhile since he saw Dedue. He wondered how Dedue was doing since he arrived in this world. He felt easier now that he here.

"No problem! We have a lot of flavors to choose from. Let me go grab them." Ashe walked over to the cabinet and pulled down the flavors they had. He leaned up to reach another one to place on the table. "Okay so we have ginger tea, peppermint tea, an apple blend, chamomile, mint tea, and one that tastes like crescent moon tea."

Ashe walked over to the cabinet with the extra mugs. He grabbed three and placed them on the table. "Wait, you walked all the way here. Yeah I can imagine it must have been long. Are you sure you don't want anything to eat? I can store food better now with these new items here. Or I could make something for you to eat? It wouldn't take that long." He's gotten really good at working the stove now.

[donoteattheweeds]

"Ginger, if you do not mind."

It is, after all, his preferred kind of tea, though he would gladly drink another type that Ashe would like better. He waits while Ashe fetches the cups and kettle and other such things; he would offer to help, but he doesn't know where anything is in this kitchen and would likely only be in the way.

"It was a long journey, but not a difficult one. I arrived about eight days ago, but the weather has been good and I was able to travel quickly," he says, though he still seats himself at the table and feels no small amount of relief at being off of his feet. "Please, do not trouble yourself on my account. Just the tea, for now, will be fine."

[freckledarcher]

"No problem! Ginger, coming right up!" Ashe grabbed the ginger and placed it next to the mint tea for his cup. He filled up the kettle then placed it on the stove. He's sure that Dedue would catch on once he showed him, but he should rest right now.

"The weather here is very nice. I've been able to grow some nice plants due to it." Ashe gave him a reassuring smile on his way over to the cabinet to grab the mugs. "It's really no problem at all. I'm happy to help you relax." He made a successful noise when he pulled the mug down. "Well, the offer to eat is always open, just let me know. Do you have a pokemon yet? Um, a creature like my friend here." Ashe pointed to Piplup who chirped happily at him. He's warmed up to Dedue after noticing the way Ashe reacted around him.

[donoteattheweeds]

From his place at the table, Dedue has a decent line of sight into the kitchen; he can watch Ashe bustle about in his preparations. He seems to be quite familiar with these strange new devices that people cook with in this world, and it's helpful to be able to watch Ashe operate them. At some point, when he hasn't just gotten in from a cross-country walk, Dedue will have to ask for a proper lesson in their use.

The creature that trails along behind Ashe seems to have gotten used to his presence, which is something of a relief. Animals have never taken particularly well to Dedue, even when he tries to get along with them, but these creatures get over their fear of him more quickly than the horses at Garreg Mach ever did. Or the cats.

"I did arrive with one of these creatures," he replies. "He is similar to a tortoise, and is remarkably well disposed towards me."

Which is a surprise, because of the whole animals hate his face thing.

"When you first arrived, were you also in a small town called New Bark?"