Victory Road IC Inbox

[pidge_out]

 


Hey, it's Pidge. Can't answer right now-- Rover quit it! --so leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can.
Rover, what did I say--?!?!

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[pidge_out]

[The words sting, compounding on top of each other as Keith keeps going, all of them aimed for every weak point in Pidge's carefully constructed mental armor. She'd told herself - convinced herself - that there's nothing wrong with enjoying their time in this alternate universe. But in the back of her mind there's always been the pain of wanting to go back home, to see the war truly ended, to be back in the arms of her mother and father. Keith is bringing all of that to the forefront of her mind, and with that final question posed to her Pidge finally snaps.]

Of course I do! Don't you ever even question that!

[The outburst has her raising her voice and her hands ball into fists, and it's enough to wake Rover up with an indignant, pained squawk. But his trainer doesn't seem to pay him any mind beyond releasing him from her hold.]

I wanna go home and be with my parents and be done with fighting the Galra but I can't. None of us can leave of our volition and none of us know what the quiznak we're supposed to do here! It's just- This is all totally out of our control and the only thing we can do is make the best out of it, especially when it's like having a second chance at life for a lot of people. Including Shiro. In the grand scheme of things, it-- This isn't the worst detour we could've been forced to take.

[marmoron]

[in the back of his mind, he knows he'd gone too far in saying what he said, but he doesn't have it in him to walk it back and apologize right this second -- not when pidge is snapping right back. on the one hand, there's a twisted sense of vindication from the confirmation bias he's getting about some deep rooted suspicion that his presence here is throwing a monkey wrench into the happiness everyone else has achieved for themselves, but on the other hand he knows he's messing up -- letting his temper get the better of him. <>again.

but the other element of all this is that her reaction is well and truly the first time since being in johto that he's found any of his friends relatable. if the complacency they've achieved is a paper thin facade, then that's the most relatable sentiment.

there's a deep breath and then:]

So you're just accepting it for what it is. What have you or the others here even tried in order to get back home? Don't wanna go reinventing the wheel.

[pidge_out]

[Pidge makes a huge gesture of surrender with her hands, prompting Rover to hop out of her lap and seek shelter in the corner of the bed.]

The best guess that anyone has is that some Pokémon with the ability to alter and bend reality is the one that brought us all here, and you can imagine how well the search for it has gone. [And Keith can probably guess from the way Pidge wrinkles her nose that this isn't her favorite theory.]

As for any actual physical evidence? The only lead is that house we all show up in when we get here. But no one can get back in, and if anyone's tried to destroy it they clearly haven't succeeded. No one knows who that fake "mom" figure is, or has ever even seen her again.

[She groans, leaning forward and wiping her hands down her face, knocking her glasses askew.] I've been here for a year. Shiro's been here for nearly four. The people who've been sent back to their homes didn't exactly leave notes on how they did it. All we can do is- is wait.

[marmoron]

[well bye rover....?? keith's eyes briefly follow the birb goes zooming off to safety, then quickly snap back to pidge. this time, he takes a few moments to organize his thoughts before responding. his voice is calmer when he speaks -- no apology in sight yet, but decidedly less accusatory and more civil.]

And you haven't noticed any patterns or common links between the people who've disappeared?

[a year's a long time to be collecting this kind of data. four, if shiro's been keeping an eye on the situation.]

There has to be a better strategy than just waiting.