Victory Road Inbox

[notvaljean]

Hi, this is Jean... [loud crackling in the background, the sound of sighing] ... and Blitz. We're busy right now and can't answer, so leave a message and we'll get back to you.

Comments

[notvaljean]

No, I get it. It's like Armin and the ocean. [He shrugs.] I just ended up here because I like the heat.

[Not enough meat on his bones for that cold weather nonsense.]

I have no idea what I was dreaming about when I said that.

[Jean chuckles a little at the memory.]

Remember when I rolled off the bed and landed on Marcel? And then just slept there all night?

[bertall]

He's a good bed when there isn't any other option. He'd make the tent a little cramped sometimes too, but he's a really nice heater. Even if it made it hard to breathe on warmer nights.

<sub>[Bertolt fidgets with the corner of the blanket on his hotel bed for a few moments, his brows knit together as he thinks. The reason he gave wasn't entirely the truth - while he had wanted to go to Blackthorn for months, there was another reason too.

He wants to be honest with Jean - he cares about him, so it's the right thing, isn't it?]</sub>

There's, um... There's more to it though, too. Why I stayed in Blackthorn.

[notvaljean]

Yeah?

[Well, at least Bert is being cool about Jean being so ridiculous. Jean crosses his legs on his own hotel bed and pillows his chin in his palm.]

Why?

[bertall]

I, uh...

<sub>[Aight, Bertolt. Deep breath! It'll be fine since it's Jean, right?

It's not like he's spilling all sorts of familial adoration at him like he did with Ford. He's never going to live it down and he's pretty sure if his Pokemon could speak his language, they'd give him hell for it. ...At least he knows his Zorua would.]</sub>

Remember how I kept holing myself up in our room after awhile? I, er... I was starting to get overwhelmed with so many people living in the same house like in the barracks. I know they're yours and Armin's friends but I don't know them that well... On top of that I was having some, uh, pretty bad dreams for awhile too after the forest.

_{[He still does, but that's something he's trying to work through.]}

I care about you too much to put you through that. Galliard had to deal with me nailing him in the nose the other night.

[notvaljean]

Shit, Bertolt...

[If Jean had known all that, he would have gone to Blackthorn with him!]

You should have told me you were having bad dreams! We could've, I don't know, talked about them or something! Or we could've gotten you a Gastly with Dream Eater!

[bertall]

No! I-I mean--

_{[Did he just raise his voice? He sure as heckin did, and Bertolt fights the urge to cover his face with his hands. Gods, what is wrong with him today?]}

I-I... I think I've had enough with Pokemon doing things to me when I'm asleep. All of that stuff in the forest was... Ford saw some of the dreams I was having and it was hard enough trying to talk to him about it.

_{[And now for the weird part.]}

I'd... rather just do what we were doing before, but I don't know if, uh... i-if you'd want to keep doing that. Since I'm... you know.

[notvaljean]

Oh. Yeah, those dreams... that was something else.

[He's glad Bertolt shared his with Ford, and has someone to talk to about them. Jean knows he'd be much more of a mess if Shiro wasn't around to talk things through.]

Since you're what?

[No, Jean does not know, please elaborate.]

[bertall]

I, uh... like guys, remember?

_{[He likes girls too! But. Jean isn't a girl.]}

[notvaljean]

Oh. That.

[Jean is quiet for a moment.]

I got a phone number at work from a couple of cute people. A guy and a girl. I didn't know what to do with them. So I asked Krieg, and he said I should call the cutest one.

... the cutest one was the guy.

[So yeah.]

[bertall]

<sub>[Oh.

Oh. Well, then--]</sub>

You--

_{[Give him a second here, because this is news to him.]}

...What was he like?

[notvaljean]

[So far only Shiro and Krieg know about Jean's wayward leanings; Bertolt is the first person from home he's told. It's one thing to tell a spaceman from the future and a psycho about it; it's something all together different to tell someone from their shitty home world, where such behavior is an aberration.]

Meh. Real cute, but kind of dumb. I couldn't talk to him.

[It fizzled, in other words.]

[bertall]

<sub>[At least there's no judgement here - Bertolt still wrestles with it a bit himself, but that's just how he is. He never had much of a chance to start getting weird feelings for other people back home, but at least he's getting better at dealing with it here.

He's still trying to figure out if it's okay to like both girls and boys at the same time, though.]</sub>

He couldn't have been that bad, Jean.

_{[Give him the deets, bro.]}

[notvaljean]

[That's all it takes to open the floodgates.]

No, he was! Like, super cute, had that whole surfer vibe thing going for him, but oh my gods, he was so dense! All he wanted to talk about was surfing, his surfboard, Sevii-patterned shirts, shit like that. And I like Sevii-patterned shirts, but gods, that's not all I want to talk about! He was boring!

[It bears repeating: super cute. Like, if he'd just kept his mouth shut and looked handsome, Jean might've tried to kiss him. But cuteness is not greater than a shit personality.]

[bertall]

_{[Oh no.]}

W-Well, he could've been worse, right? At least surfing seems like it'd be a little fun. I'm just not sure if I could ever do it. _{[Sure, it'd take him practice and he'd probably be okay at it, but he couldn't handle everyone staring at him if they decided to take an interest.]} Did he at least pay for the date?

[notvaljean]

Surfing is pretty fun, but there's more to life than that!

[If Bertolt is interested, the next time he's in Sevii Jean will take him surfing on Fisch's head.]

No. He just showed up at work during my break and drank some free coffee.

[This, more than anything, seems to be Jean's sticking point. All that and Jack didn't even take him anywhere? Or pay for anything? Laaaaaaame.]

[bertall]

_{[Oh, hell no.]}

...If he comes in again, give him decaf.

_{[Look, Bertolt can count his dates on one hand, but that? That's an insult.]}

What about the other person? Did you try them?

[notvaljean]

Don't worry, I have been.

[As has everyone else at Starmiebucks. Jack is on the permanent decaf diet.]

No. After the disaster with Jack, I couldn't. I've seen her a couple of times, but I just go in the back when she comes in.

[bertall]

...Do you want to try something with her? I've, uh... I've only been on a date with a girl once, but I could give you some ideas if you wanted to give her a chance.

[notvaljean]

Not really. Thanks for the offer, but she's Jack's best friend and after what happened with him, I don't think she'd talk to me.

[Honestly, Jean is pretty down about the whole thing and feeling unlovable.]

[bertall]

<sub>[Gods, what would Marco do in this situation? He's not him - Bertolt knows this, and he'll never be him, but he can't deny the spike of something in his gut when Jean's tone fully sinks in. There's concern, of course, but there's something else there too.

Think, Bertolt, think.]</sub>

Is there anything I could do?

[notvaljean]

No, it's okay. I'm probably just going to order a pizza and binge on shitty tv before going back to Sevii tomorrow.

[He could leave tonight, but he doesn't like flying on Rocky when it's dark out.]

I'm pretty sure I've got all the embarrassing confessions out of my system, so there's that, at least.

[bertall]

Are you s--

_{[Wait a sec.]}

H-Hang on, going back? Where are you?

[notvaljean]

Goldenrod. I came here yesterday for Fiddleford's hootenanny.

Why?

[bertall]

_{[He's got it.]}

...Where in Goldenrod? I, uh... I can overnight something to you before you leave.

[notvaljean]

You don't have to do that.

[But Jean gives Bertolt the address to his hotel anyway. Why not, right? If one of Bertolt's flyers doesn't mind flying at night, Jean isn't going to protest.]