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[darkov]

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latest status update 3/6/2018

Comments

[h2no]

[archie nods, seemingly happy with that response.]

S'all you can do, now he ain't here no more. [anyway, he watches martin take the carving he'd made for him. only a couple inches tall, not painted, but good smooth wood. the best approximation of what he thinks gina would look like based on martin's descriptions, with special attention given to the braid.] Ah! Yes, that's from me to you. I made it!

[he rubs the back of his head awkwardly.]

I, ah, dunno if you'll like it, but I had the idea and thought I'd give it a go...

[darkov]

[Martin is quiet for a moment, turning the little figure over in his hands, carefully gliding his finger along grooves carved and smoothed over.

softly:]

It looks like Gina...

[he doesn't connect that it's supposed to be right away.]

[h2no]

[ha HA victory in itself!!!!!!!!!]

It, uh, it's meant to be her. I tried to go off what you described of her...

[darkov]

[he looks back up, eyebrows raised. really? just from that little?

or that much? he's not sure how much is too much when he talks about things.

in any case, he looks back down, regarding it with even more thought and care than beforehand, a warmth filling up in his chest where the sadness is, mixing it up. his mouth quirks in a faint smile.]

This is really nice...

[h2no]

Ah... I'm glad you like it! I didn't know all the details or anything...

[mostly why it isn't painted and there's no real facial details, but... he did his best. that's all he could do.]

I was lucky enough to get a duplicate of a picture from home from an imPort power last year. It's... nice to have a connection like that, no matter how small.

[darkov]

[he murmurs a soft sound, eyes still on the figure in hand.

he still really misses her. out of everyone still back there, she was the one who mattered most, the one whose memory makes him ache with guilt for wanting to stay far, far away and safely here among people who aren't even his blood.

quietly:] Thank you...

[h2no]

[archie smiles a little, glad the gift didn't turn out to make him sadder than anything else, though he doesn't doubt it's dredged up some bad feelings for the poor kid.]

No problem, I'm glad you like it. [...] Uhm, y'know, if you wanna talk about home or anything then I'm here for it. I know it's hard when you get told constantly that your home is weird or-- or there's stuff people think they know more about than you.

[he puts his hand on martin's shoulder, rubbing it gently.]

I know how hard it is to be here alone when nothing lines up with what you know.

[a bit of an exaggeration, but he still struggled and does struggle with some things and figures martin is probably still experiencing culture shock.]

[darkov]

[the touch draws Martin's eyes away from the figure, up to Archie. the way he says what he says makes his chest ache a little, a bit of that pain crossing his expression before he looks back down, tightening his grip on the figure.]

...The longer I'm here...the less I understand about it. About home. I don't think I really knew anything about...anything.

[h2no]

This world is confusing. [he feels like he doesn't know anything about anything either, even more so here.] Not to mention your experience at home was short with your age and what you went through.

[he shakes his head, shrugging a little.]

The only knowledge we have of home is what we know... there's nothing else here.

[darkov]

[he thinks about that for a beat.]

Maybe that's a good thing. That there's no more of it here. [he looks back up, frowning.]

I don't want anyone else to have to be like that. The way things are there.

[h2no]

[he nods, somewhat understanding. he hates what he put the people of his world through.]

Are you... okay, feeling like that?

[darkov]

[confused:] What--what do you mean? Feeling like...?

[h2no]

Badly, about home. You're not wrong to have those kind of feelings, but it can beh hard to reconcile with when you're not used to them.

[he smiles lightly.]

Trust me, you're not wrong. It's very compassionate of you to feel so strongly for other people like that.

[darkov]

...

[he thinks about that for a beat.

then:] Does it ever feel alright, then? Ever?

[h2no]

You're not going to like this, but... I can't answer that one for you. We experience being here so differently, there's no way to know.

[though... he hazards a guess being away from family like gina will always hurt. even if martin is here for years and forgets her face and voice.]

There's no right or wrong way to feel about it, either. It's just... how you do.

[darkov]

[so it's about the same as what Cassandra said. it's both assuring and not-so-assuring, because more than anything, Martin wishes he could have someone he trusts give him solid answers. even if living in the compound was hard and fraught with anxieties, there was security in trusting in others to know all the answers.

he nods, somber, and crouches down to put the figure safely back in the bag.]

Uh-? [his fingers graze one more ball of tissue paper. he plucks it out, squeezing it before unrolling it to expose the little mightyena carving.]

Mightyena...?

[h2no]

Yep! [he chirps happily, not dwelling on the topic change. he's always trying to encourage to martin to lead things himself and if he wants to drop it then it's dropped.] I wasn't sure about that one, but figured it couldn't hurt. You wanna see him now?

[darkov]

Ye-yes, please. [it's cute! mightyena's already cute...but this is handheld, not-slobbery cute.]

[h2no]

[archie nods, standing up and releasing the hyena pokémon into the hallway. it yips immediately, trotting over to martin and pressing its head against his shoulder.

friend...]

[darkov]

He-hello, hi-- [he fidgets, winding up sitting on his legs to brace and shrug against the nose snuffling in his ear. once he's situated, he holds out the little figure for investigation.]

Did-did you see this? Archie made it. It looks like you...

[h2no]

[mightyena licks at martin's face the way he always does, because intelligent pokémon or not, he's still a friggin' dog. he looks over at the carving, sniffing, then back at martin, tail wagging and ears pricked. he boofs lightly. yes! that's him! he remembers modelling for it!]

[darkov]

[his breath peppered with a shaky kind of laugh, rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand.]

I'll put it upstairs. In my room. [he glances up toward Archie.]</small. That's a good spot, right?

[h2no]

[he nods with a smile.]

That sounds good to me. You wanna go up with Mightyena? I'll stay down here and get a drink.

[darkov]

Oh--a-alright. [he gets to his feet with the bag, gesturing to mightyena to follow and head toward the stairs, realizing along the way:] This is the new house, so you haven't seen the new upstairs...I-I mean, it looks mostly the same, I guess. Just backwards in spots...