|10| [Video]

[wing_attack]

[... Oh. Tobias happened to look at the date, and think back. It's... weird to think that he's been here so long, but he feels the need to reflect on it. He's not really a public person, but... there are things he has to say. So when he turns the video on, it's with him sitting on a couch with Regal's head on his lap.]

I didn't notice it earlier in the month, but I've been here a year. Kind of. I mean... I went home for a bit but I came back, so adding it all together I've spent a year here. It's... kind of weird here, still. Not that I'm a stranger to weird creatures, but it's... different. This place is nice, and with the exception of one of those teams starting trouble, it's peaceful here.

[He looks down to scratch Regal's head gently, before looking back at the camera.]

... There's a lot of people here that don't care who you are or where you came from, and I mean that in a good way. As long as you don't start trouble with people, people are usually nice. You could have been someone high ranking or you could have been the janitor or something, and it doesn't matter. I mean... I'm a bird most of the time at home, and people here don't seem to mind. People are friendly and nice and...

[He needs to stop that line of thinking, he's having an emotion.]

... I mean. ... There's a lot of great people here. And as far as I'm concerned... this place is more of a home than a lot of places I've been. So... I guess I just wanted to say thanks to people, even the people who aren't here anymore. And... here's to some more great years.

[He turns the camera to Regal, who squawks happily at the feed, before turning off the Pokegear.]

Comments

[audio]

[wing_attack]

[There's the sound of him shifting positions in a chair as he thinks of how to say this.]

You don't have to deal with things like school, or families. You don't have to deal with other people not liking you because of how you look or what you say. Birds don't care as long as you're not in their territory. You can go where you want to go, and if it gets too much you can just let instincts take over and hunt, fly, and sleep.

[audio]

[unkinder]

[...]

I can see where that would be appealing, then. You have no one to answer to but yourself.

[audio]

[wing_attack]

Pretty much. It was actually really nice. ... It's easy to lose yourself, if you want.

[audio]

[unkinder]

[It makes him wonder...what it would be like. As much as he used video games as an escape back home, being able to literally escape would be a whole other experience.]

But it's different here. Your powers are gone.

[It's more of a statement than a question or anything.]

[audio]

[wing_attack]

Yeah. I can fly on the backs of some of my Pokemon, but it's not the same. I'm trying to work out something that might help, but... it still won't be the same as flying under my own power.

[audio]

[unkinder]

What about during those times when things seem to go back to normal?

[As far as any of this can be called normal, anyway.]

You become a bird again, don't you?

[audio]

[wing_attack]

That's right. It's... really nice, and it's always really hard when it goes back to what this place is usually like. Last time I pretty much just flew around for the entire weekend.

[audio]

[unkinder]

...you say you see this place as home. Does that mean you'd prefer to stay, even without your abilities anymore?

[audio]

[wing_attack]

... There's not a lot left for me back home, honestly. I was fighting a war. The war's over.

[audio]

[unkinder]

[Ah.]

Sounds like losing your abilities is just the price to pay for staying here, then.

[He's not sure how much he'd say his situation back home is similar...though it is dubious, at best.]

[audio]

[wing_attack]

It is. ... I miss my friends, but I know that things will be... okay at home.

[... Sort of.]

[audio]

[unkinder]

[There's another pause on Nagi's end, more because he doesn't really know what to say in response to something like that.]

It's...possible they could show up here, too.

[audio]

[wing_attack]

Yeah, I know. But you kind of have to... keep going as if they're not going to. You can hope, but...

[It's been a year without them, overall.]

[audio]

[unkinder]

[He knows that all too well.]

...but that doesn't guarantee they'll ever come.

[He finishes for him, quietly.]

[audio]

[wing_attack]

No. It doesn't. Not for more than a weekend, at least.

... It sucks, but it's not something we can control.

[audio]

[unkinder]

...sometimes I wonder if people who go back during those times remember this place at all. Apparently they don't, but I know they return with prior memories on occasion.

[audio]

[wing_attack]

I don't know. I don't... think so, since when I went home no one that showed up here remembered it. Or if they did, they didn't mention it. I didn't remember here when I was home, either.

[audio]

[unkinder]

[He gives a noncommital noise at that.]

That figures, I guess. Not that it matters much anyway. As you say, it isn't something we can control.

[audio]

[wing_attack]

Exactly. All we can do is make the most of our time here.