BBS/PM -> Action

[espio]

[Over the last two weeks, Espio has been very, very quiet. He's not been avoiding anyone, per se, but has made it clear that he doesn't really want company for the moment and has been quick to shut down conversation. He's been teaching his classes as usual, but his heart hasn't been in it - he's gone far too easy on everyone, and not just because he's been recovering from his own injuries.

He started to brighten up a little when old familiar faces began popping up, and didn't seem too unsettled by the chaos around them, and yet...]

[BBS]

Hey, old newbies. Welcome back to the chaos that is Balamb Garden. Watch your step - you might get teleported into the pool at any moment. Or trip over a stray hotdog.

I'll start panicking when sections of Special Zone start getting imported.

Espio

[PM to This Family]

Hockey?

[Yes, just the one word. He's referring to Galbadia Garden's ice rink, and it's intended as a hint to where he'll be - perched on the barrier surrounding said ice rink. While mildly drunk (his common sense kicked in before it got too far). Because obviously, sitting in a chilled room in close proximity to a lump of ice while you are cold-blooded and mildly inebriated is a very intelligent thing to do.

Meh. He reckons if they all turn up, he can skate well enough to not faceplant into the ice.]

Comments

[om_nom_namur]

[For once Namur isn't barefoot. He broke in to the ice skate rentals office and found himself a pair of hockey skates that fit, and slid across the ice with far more grace than an eight foot tall misproportioned shark man ought to have. He summons Shiva for a few minutes so she can enjoy the venue, though she seems unimpressed and eager to return to wherever it is Guardian Forces go when not being bossed around by SeeD. Namur obliges her, then skates up to the barrier next to Espio.]

Damn bro, been drinkin'? An' y' didn't invite nobody? 'Sup with that?

[espio]

[Espio watches him skate around without a word until he comes up to him, at which point he answers the question with surprise.]

You can tell? Already? I've not even said anything yet...

[om_nom_namur]

Sheheheh, be surprised if any a the humans notice, but yeah, smelled it 'bout...

[Namur pushes himself backwards to a certain point a couple meters away.]

Here-ish. Ain't super strong, but it's there. Anyway.

[He skates forward again, resting his long arms on the barrier.]

What's driven y' t' the bottle bro? Somethin' happen?

[espio]

[Of course.

Heshakes his head.]

Yeah, I've been drinking... but only a little. Don't make it sound like there has to be a reason - it's late, and I've been working hard.

[om_nom_namur]

Uh huh. Ain't somethin' y' usually do though, 's all. Somethin' y' need t' say t' somebody t' make y' feel better I got better hearin' than humans too, jus' sayin'.

[espio]

I don't think there's anything I could say that'd help me feel better.

[Oh wait, that's admitting there's a problem, isn't it?]

If, you know, I had a problem.

[om_nom_namur]

[Namur snorts, and pokes the bony frill just behind the chameleon's cheek.]

Liar. Damn, y'll be a full on pirate swab 'fore too long. Sheheheh!

[espio]

[Swats the hand away.]

'Swab'?

[om_nom_namur]

Newb. The guy stuck swabbin the deck. Our influence is startin' t' show on y's what I'm gettin' at.

[fierybluebird]

[Shwoom.]

[Shwoom.]

[Shwoom.]

[Marco cheerfully skates about the ice in his phoenix form. Nothing fancy this time. And why should he? He's a sparkly fire bird on ice skates that doesn't even melt the ice.]

[Shwoom.]

[Shwoom.]

Craw~?

[espio]

[Watches Marco as he sweeps up and down the ice from his position on the barrier, chin in hands, expression blank as he gives a bland celebration of Marco's movement.]

Wheeeeee...

[fierybluebird]

[Marco slides around until he can back into the partition door, and he finally walks back in as a human.]

Yo.

[espio]

Yo.

[Raises a hand in greeting.]

Figured out what I meant, then?

[fierybluebird]

About hockey?

Nay. I'm trying to puzzle out why you'd wish to bother with such a thing when you hate the cold, and Namur's hardly fond of it.

Or is there something more at play here?

[espio]

I guess you could say there's something bugging me. Really bugging me.

[He glances back at the door, as though to ensure nobody else had turned up yet. Satisfied, he looks back to Marco.]

I feel like shit... and not "I feel cold and miserable" sort of feeling shit.

Look, can I talk to you about something? It's... kind of serious, and you're the only one I think I can trust not to hate me for it, but it's not something I can cope with hiding anymore... you know?

[Awkward shrug. He has no idea how to lead into it.]

I'll tell you what's up, but you have to promise to hear me out.

[fierybluebird]

Aye.

[Carefully picks Espio up and sets him on his shoulders.] Come on little buddy.

[Goes back onto the ice.] You've felt like this for a long time, eh? I take it it's not getting any better?

[Languidly skates along.]

[espio]

It's not about that - this is something else... well, okay, it's a part of it, but...

[Leans on Marco's head.]

Do you remember when I quit SeeD?

[action]

[thatched]

[Thatch sits himself on the wall of the rink with a beer of his own. He's never been one for skating of any kind and it seems much to exhausting. Or maybe it's just he's more worried these days. When everything is going crazy, it's hard to convince yourself you're not.]

Hello, o chameleon of my heart. [salutes Espio with the beer] What's cooking?

Re: [action]

[espio]

[Well, look who it is. Espio glances at Thatch, then turns his attention back to the ice.]

Not a lot. Just thought I'd check out our new, uh, acquisition. Seems like G-Garden's pretty big on all things sporty. I wonder who they competed against?

[action]

[thatched]

Who knows. [and who cares really. It's all politics. Battle. None of which he wants any part in and so has tried to stay away when he could which wasn't often. There were too many people to protect]

Feels like the damn end of the world.

[he's kind of in a dark mood]

[espio]

[No seriously, it doesn't make sense. Why does G-Garden have so many sports facilities compared to Balamb, who pretty much give no shits about sports?

Espio chuckles, a little darkly.]

You think?

Don't forget, I've seen what the end of the world looks like.

[thatched]

[not exactly a heartening line of thought, that. The ending of the world. It's a kind of slow death really. He isn't sure if he regrets it or not. What's it all worth in the end. Living a kind of half existence tied to this damn pretentious Garden.]

Think we'll all end up back [home but not really] where we came from?

[espio]

I don't know.

[Frowns. There's something niggling him - beyond the whole ordeal with Sol Invictus, his realisation that he'd been under their control.]

My reality was destroyed. All that's left where it was is an empty void. I...

For the longest time, I thought that going home would kill me, but...

[thatched]

But...?

[though he expects just by that that something opposite had happened, he miraculously survived, for example. Got to remain with his crew instead of facing oblivion. Thatch isn't jealous of it, oddly. Only mildly curious. ]

[espio]

[Shakes his head.]

I don't know what it is, but for the last couple of days I've just had this thing... I dunno, it's like a dream, but really vivid.

[He's reluctant to call it a memory, in case it isn't.]

What pulled me out of the Special Zone wasn't Time Compression - it was Omni. At the last second, he dragged me and my team out of the Special Zone, dumped us on another world in another reality - took us to Mobius.

But I don't know if that's a memory, or my mind playing tricks on me, but if that's the case... if I get sent back to where I came from, then I'd end up on Mobius. With my friends.