azume | Week 10.

WEEK 10

You've found a few new friends this past week, and along with them, a new town to explore.

Granted, there doesn't seem to be much, particularly when compared to the cities you started out in; at the same time, the air is fresh with the scent of flowers and honey wafting on the breeze. Along with the usual Pokémon that can be found in populated areas, it seems that several Combees have made their home here - they can be found drifting along idly, seeming no more capable of true emotion than anyone or anything else, but perhaps they're trying their best. It's a little difficult to say; they are still bees, after all.

That said, the world continues to change around you, bit by bit; you still have a long way to go before you've saved everyone, but for the time being you should probably recharge, and take some time to sort through what should happen next. Talking to the locals may net you the information that there's something odd about the meadow north of town; perhaps a few of you should go to check it out...

CURRENT LOCATION: FLOAROMA TOWN
POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week ten of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[jake..... it gets a polite little chuckle out of her, anyway.]

People like Zelda and me? How do you mean?

[Okay, how does he go about explaining this without being rude as fuck. He kind of just...breathes for a moment. Thinking.]

...You and Zelda do a lot of the talking when we meet up with people, and it's a really specific sort of talking. Ignis tries doing the same sort of thing, but he's kind of got his head a bit too far up his own ass to manage it half the time so he's a little hit or miss. But you and Zelda seem to do the diplomatic thing a lot of the time. And the whole point of that is to not get all emotional when you're under pressure, yeah? Because getting emotional doesn't get anywhere.

I'm not saying you don't have any empathy or sympathy or whatever? But those aren't feelings, they're thoughts, there's a difference. Michael's teaching himself empathy. I'm teaching myself sympathy. You can learn that shit, they're not feelings.

So I'm kind of asking because people who do what you and Zelda do don't get to have feelings, and now Zelda is embarrassed as fuck when she has one whole emotion in front of people and you kind of placidly smile your way through some fucking creepy shit.

[...Okay, so that wasn't completely rude to anyone but Ignis, and Jake is...generally more emotionally aware than he gives himself credit for, apparently.]

[jake's doing well, she is, as always, proud of him—and she listens closely, looking courteously thoughtful, still and quiet and calm.]

You have given this very much thought, I can tell. [There is a fondness in the way she says it, of course, and a contemplation in the soft hum she follows with. Maybe she needs more than the moment she takes to answer. How strange, to be observed like this, to be asked of in such a way. It must be a part of standing on the same ground—and that, too, remains strange for her.]

I do not think you are wrong to call sympathy and empathy thoughts. Perhaps even skills. Things which can be learned, nonetheless. Still, I would not say they are always without feeling, either. None of this is to disparage your efforts, of course; the feeling without the act is the same as neither to the people around you, so the latter is what matters most. If I may, I would say you are learning it very well.

[People who do what you and Zelda do don't get to have feelings. It strikes her, in a way she could not completely articulate if she wanted to, to have it laid out in front of her so plainly. And yet, here she is now with her heart always filled to the brim, but without the world's weight pressing a lid shut on the overflow. Maybe she is not safe to let it spill, but laughter and friendship and inklings of casual closeness would never have been allowed to bubble up like they have barely months ago.]

All this to say—of course there is a homesickness in me, and the pain I have seen in this world and its people and our own small group has brought grief. Even so, I am happy. I love Sinnoh and watching it awaken. I love our party and each traveler in it. For me, this is where those skills come from. Empathy, sympathy, diplomacy. There is an emotion to it all, even to the calm against the pressure, but it is that, despite everything, I truly am happy to be here.

[Here, whole and breathing. How strange it is. How wonderful it is.]

I do not wish for you to have to worry about me. I have faced my share of struggles outside this word, too, so I am not unequipped to handle what we have faced, and what will come next. Of course there have been trials along the way, but I am sincere in not being hindered by them.

Thank you, Jake. With all my heart, I mean that.

I'm not saying you aren't equipped to deal with stuff or anything. More like if you ever wanted to actually talk about it, or about where you came from or anything, you can.

[He shrugs, though.]

You don't have to thank me for anything, though.

Hm. I can tell how much care goes into your words, so I would never want to say you do not realize their importance—but the kind words have just as much strength. More, perhaps.

So, of course I have to thank you for this kindness. I will not forget the offer, and you have my gratitude for it.

Week 10.

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sometimes. a person loses a notif.