95th moon [we're all walled in]

[paladinlost]

[One tiny and sad advantage to having gone through this whole circus eight times is that at some point, nothing can surprise you anymore. Not even waking up on a park bench in Goldenrod with a Goldeen in your arms, a Magikarp tangled in your hair and a Finneon almost kissing you.

...Okay, so maybe that particular situation does surprise Cecil a little. Juste a little.

But certainly not enough to stop him from taking care of his weekly grocery shopping at the Department Store. Even if he's still wearing his pyjamas, his hair is messy, his make-up is nowhere to be seen and he has three fish in his shopping basket. He doesn't care about such silly details.

He does, however, care enough to greet the poor confused or not-so-confused people that surround him. The local biannual madness is no reason to be rude, after all.]

Comments

[dragoon_pride]

Lava with a pleasant taste? Truly? [Forgive him his skepticism. Kain looks around after that, just taking in the surroundings uncertainly.] Outside of this shop, are we at war again?

[paladinlost]

It's only their name, not their main ingredient.

[...He hopes.]

Luckily, no. Well, one could say there will be some warring soon, but the Christmas sales have not yet started.

[dragoon_pride]

I wouldn't trust it, even so. [But it's Kain and his standards are a little off the rest of the world's.] ...Sales? What do they have anything to do with war? You're obviously jesting.

[paladinlost]

Parents fighting over the last of a toy to give to their child can be surprisingly vicious, especially on the 24th of December.

[But he probably is indeed jesting.]

...But beyond such fights and a few crime syndicates, this world does not truly know war. Though they greatly enjoy sparring between Pokémon.

[dragoon_pride]

[It's hardly a world that Kain could be comfortable in, then. He's much too used to battle and a need for it. Still, a break in between all the fighting he's been doing will be useful, for now. He's weary at the moment.]

Poke... what? What sort of sparring is that?

[paladinlost]

Imagine we both have pet fish.

[He points at the ones in his basket to demonstrate. They flop a little.]

The local custom would be to make them battle each other after weeks of training, to see which is the strongest. That's a Pokémon battle.

[dragoon_pride]

Somewhat like Eidolons, then. [All of this even might seem vaguely familiar as if he's somehow stepped into this whole thing before. Who knows, for certain? Kain eyes the fish closely.] You've spent a lot of time at this sort of thing?

[paladinlost]

Oh, I've spent years learning all the tricks to it. ...But not on the fish. The fish are new.

[...Actually, he's not sure where the fish come from...]

[dragoon_pride]

Then are you planning to train the fish in the same manner?

[paladinlost]

[The fish look at Cecil hopefully. Cecil looks at the fish thoughtfully.]

If this world allows me to keep them, which is far from certain.

[dragoon_pride]

Why should the world deny you these fish as your companions?

[Now there's a question he never thought he'd be asking.]

[paladinlost]

Because we'd not have met if not for these circumstances.

[Once more, he gestures at the surrounding madness.]

Visitors are not the only ones we rarely get to keep.

[dragoon_pride]

You mean that all of this, including those fish... will vanish as well?

[He looks unsure about all of it.]

And I will vanish as well? I assume, to return to the war?

[paladinlost]

Most likely you will. That's how it always goes, when this happens. And if I'm lucky, I'll not be transported to a cave or a forest when it ends.

[dragoon_pride]

Then apparently neither of us can afford to drop our guard.

[It sounds like things could get especially difficult fast for either of them.]

[paladinlost]

Indeed. Though I at least have the advantage of bountiful supplies, knowledge of the local terrain and a full team. I could survive an unexpected displacement.

[dragoon_pride]

I'm glad to hear that you'd at least survive... even if it would still be an annoyance, I'm sure.

[paladinlost]

I can confirm that it would be a great one indeed.

[...He's smiling, but he's also twitching a little as he says that.]

[dragoon_pride]

Perhaps it's something you'd be better off not experiencing at all. A shame it cannot be avoided completely, it sounds... or can it?

[paladinlost]

...Perhaps it can be avoided, but not by tying yourself to your own kitchen table.

[The I tried is left unsaid, but still very obvious.]

[dragoon_pride]

[Kain raises an eyebrow to that.]

And did the table come along with you?

[paladinlost]

It did not. Neither did the rope, for that matter.

[dragoon_pride]

So much for that method. Does this random transportation happen often?

[paladinlost]

Twice a year. It's also predictable, luckily.

[dragoon_pride]

I suppose it could be worse than something so rare and predictable. It's still hardly a pleasant experience, I'm sure...