Video - Locked to Belphegor of Sloth

[yoctogram]

[The feed clicks on with Sho actually looking at it as it does so, for the first time in...ever. Yes. Ever. He's answered people before, but he's never made use of it to begin with. Even when he was getting rescued from the other continent it was the Pokemon who got things rolling.]

[That was then, this is now. He's been gone, back in Shibuya, and frankly being there had impressed on him just how much he prefers being in this world. Even with the tinny, repetitive noise going on and on and on and on and on...]

Bell?

[His voice is a little tentative, hoping that she is still around. If not, well, he'll pick up and start again. He's strong, he can do that.]

[Still. It would be nice if his friend is still around.]

Bell, I'm back. Got a different Purrloin, his name is א‎₀. Do you have RZF? The twins?

Comments

[belphe]

[Sorry, Sho, there isn't an immediate response to your query. Ever since you disappeared and Jack went off to do his own thing, she hasn't felt inclined to keep her Gear on at all times.

Though a couple hours later, after she finishes with her afternoon training, and notices the private message? Yeah there's a pretty swift answer.]

Sho...? Where are you?

[yoctogram]

You're still here. [There was relief in his voice, although not too much. Gotta keep up appearances.] Back where we met. Haven't left again. Didn't go on purpose, Bell. I just...showed up back there.

[belphe]

[She sets her jaw, unsure of how to really deal with the fact he's shown up so suddenly again. It isn't as if she can blame him for being at the mercy of a fragment's whim...she, of all people, knows what it's like.]

You've been missed.

[The minute she says so, in fact, the gear is all but knocked out of her hands as a pair of eevees, who hadn't been quite sure if that was daddy's voice or not but were PRETTY sure now, scaled her body and down her arms to stuff their faces into the screen in an excited chitter of noise]

[yoctogram]

[He reaches out towards the screen before the eevees manage to scale her, and turns it into a wave at the twins.] Hey...good to see you. Been good for Bell? I missed you, too.

...All of you.

[belphe]

[Somewhere behind the frantically-nuzzling eevee faces taking up the camera, Sho miiiiiight be able to see Belphe smiling faintly in the background.]

I'll send Zodiac for you. Are you in New Bark?

[yoctogram]

Yes, we are. [He nods and tilts the 'gear so that she can see the area.] Wanted to see if you were still here before I set out. Thanks for sending Zodiac.

[belphe]

[he's being awfully subdued today...part of her is curious if the screaming maniacal Sho she'd come to be familiar with had become crossed with a different fragment of himself on the way back here]

It's of little matter. I'll see you shortly.

[yoctogram]

[Mostly he was just screamed out. His time away had been rather, well. Exhausting. Obsessive study to figure out how to get back to Johto had led to him sleeping pretty much only when he'd dropped - which, thanks to his power level, wasn't nearly often enough. Now that he was back being human the effects of several months away were rapidly catching up to him.]

[Enough so that when Zodiac gets back with him, he's snoring against it's neck.]

[belphe]

[Sho running himself into ragged exhaustion by overestimating his capabilities as a human was a picture Belphegor was far more accustomed to. When Zodiac arrives in Goldenrod a couple of hours later, delivering a sacked-out reaper on his back, the middle sister is more than a little pleased with the picture.

Unfortunately, leaving him that way AND getting him to the room are not congruent to one another.]

You can set him down, Zodiac. [She says gently...which is, apparently, all the bird was waiting to hear as he turns his cloud-like wings into a sharp slant and leans, sliding the unconscious human from his back to the inn's lawn]

[yoctogram]

Hnnrrrkkk nhgh uhn? [Sho's snores cut off abruptly as he tumbles to the ground, but he follows it up by springing to his feet so that he can wrap around Belphe like the world's most bony blanket while his Eevees sprint up his body.]

Missed you.

[belphe]

[She tenses a moment, and then allows the hug, reciprocating it and ignoring the hard edges of bone and stringy muscle. While the bygone weeks have allowed her to get used to his being gone, it seems better having him around after having had him tag after her from the start.

And...

She leans upward, brushing a fleeting but certain kiss over his chin. Much less awkward than the one she'd given him out of percieved obligation following the fancy dinner he'd insisted on taking her to before his disappearance]

You as well.

[yoctogram]

[The kiss baffles him just as much as the last one did, but he chooses to ignore it as well in favour of continuing to hold onto her. Not too much longer, though, as the twins were hugging him as tightly as they could, and cutting off the air because of their clamped-on positions on either side of his neck.]

Gak?

[belphe]

[At the sound of him gagging, she blinks in mild curiosity peering at him to see what--ah, that's the problem. She disengages and reaches up to detach Nor from Sho's neck carefully but firmly.]

Easy...it won't do you two much good to have him back if you snuff him out before he can settle in.

[yoctogram]

[The Eevee waves his paws for a bit, then settles down. FINE. He'll be good, mommy. Nand trills her name and slides down into Sho's pocket.]

Heh. Missed you, too.

[belphe]

[her smile slips as she realizes that she'll need to be the bearer of bad news regarding the rest of his team]

When you left...all of your pokemon wandered off except for these two. And Dot.

[yoctogram]

[That...hurts. That hurts a lot. The soft smile slips away, replaced for an instant with a visual of the pain before he slaps a grin back on.]

Guess I'll just have to go find them again.

...Even Riemannian Zeta-Function?

[belphe]

I haven't seen her since you disappeared. I checked the entire inn room we'd been sharing in Azalea very thoroughly when I'd packed it to move on.

....which reminds me. Whatever supplies of yours would fit into the PC storage, I put away for you.

[She can't change that the pokemon are gone, so changing the subject a bit is the next best thing]

[yoctogram]

[He accepts the change of subject without comment. What's gone is gone and it's not Belphe's fault any more than it is his for disappearing.]

That's good. I won't be starting over from scratch, at least.

[Even through his exhaustion, though, his fingers are starting to tap out equations and he's exhibiting all the signs of a breakdown without the energy for it to be truly impressive.]

[belphe]

[That's a small blessing, at least. As much as a screaming, chaotic tantrum would drive home the idea that Sho really was back, Belphe doesn't especially think it would be productive.]

You should rest. [she tells him, taking an arm to guide him back in the direction of the inn] We can get you situated later.

[yoctogram]

[He lets her guide him in, staggering a little.]

I kept looking. [He mumbles softly] I kept looking for a way back.

[belphe]

How long did you stay?

[The lady at the front desk politely does not stare as she half-drags the tall, lanky young man over to the elevators]

[yoctogram]

More than a month. [How much longer? He knows, he just doesn't want to think about it.] It's not home any more. Just killing and scrabbling without hope for better. I don't mind killing, but not senseless killing. I'm better than that.

[belphe]

[As someone who has enjoyed her share of senseless killing, she can't really talk.]

Well...you're here now. It would be best not to think of it.

[The elevator chimes its arrival and she helps him in]

Until you've rested, it might be best not to think of anything. Let me handle it.

[yoctogram]

You do too much.

[Sho mumbles]

When'd you last sleep?

[belphe]

Last night.

And yourself...?

[She already has an idea that it hasn't been recently, given the shape he's in]

[yoctogram]

Dunno. A couple weeks? I didn't need to much back in Shibuya.

[He staggers towards the bed on autopilot]

[belphe]

[All the while she attempts to remain one step ahead of him, keeping him from careening into the closed door of the room, and once that's open, from stumbling over luggage and the different geography of Goldenrod's accommodations as compared to what they'd become used to in Azalea Town.

Eventually, the bed is reached. And a little silver eevee looks up indignantly from where he'd been lounging on the pillow.]

[yoctogram]

Nnnngh.

[Sho topples to the bed, ignoring Taboo's pissy look, and drags Belphe in after him. He's missed having her hair in his nose when he sleeps. The twins shriek excitedly about daddy being home before draping themselves across Sho's legs.]

[belphe]

[Being dragged into the bed as well had not been in her plans. Neither had Taboo deciding, with a put-out snort, that he was going to utilize her as a cushion as long as she was taking up his valuable napping space.

In short order, she's weighted down by stringy arms and draping eeves, preventing her from going anywhere, much less taking care of anything.

......well, as long as HE'S resting, she supposes.]

[yoctogram]

I wish you and the pokemon could have been with me. Could have taken over with the rest of you. With you. This is still better, but it wouldn't have been so bad.

[belphe]

[As she's not going anywhere for the moment, there's little to do except make herself comfortable as she shifts to mold herself against him.]

What kept you from doing it yourself?

[yoctogram]

I wanted to be here more than I wanted to take over Shibuya.

[Simply enough] It just wasn't as important as trying to come home.

[belphe]

[She falls silent, wondering if her reaction might be the same if she was sent home. She can't say, really...despite the fact it's been many months since she's seen her sisters and master, and has gotten the hang of life in this fragment.

A thousand years of loyalty runs deeply, after all.]

I see~

[Her fingers reach up to smooth through his wild silver hair. As long as she's stuck here, though, she'd be lying to herself if she said that she didn't appreciate familiarity returning.]

[yoctogram]

Shibuya is all life-and-unlife fighting. Kill or be killed with the stakes being your soul. That world is garbage. No badges, no long-term teams, just kill to survive a while longer so that you can kill to survive a while longer after that.

[He goes silent for a moment, just leaning into the stroking of his hair.]

I spent so much time trying to kill the Composer, but...if I took his place, it'd just be more of the same, only killing my kind instead of humans. Composer has to hide who he is as hard as he can so that people like me don't kill him. I could do that, easily. I could keep control and take out anyone trying to kill me.

I just don't see the point any more. Here people will know what I do, and appreciate my work.