beastofasister | [IC] Contact

[...What.

If Walter thinks he's getting away with having this conversation over text, he is delusional. As soon as Manaka sees his message, she rings him for a voice call.

And if he doesn't pick up, she'll keep ringing.]

[ He finally picks up after trying to ignore her for fifteen minutes. It's really weird and difficult to ignore someone reaching out to you, when you've been ignored for most of your life. ]

...Hello.

Walter! What happened?

[There's an urgency to her question that she wasn't expecting herself. But she hasn't known Walter to be one for snap decisions or overreactions; if he's saying he can't come back to Goldenrod, it must be something serious, and that fact worries her in a way she isn't used to.]

[ Walter curled up a little. He wasn't supposed to talk about when he got hit, it didn't matter when he was attacked; a philosophy seeded and sowed as a child, attempting to tell the priests about the slaps and punches he'd received from the guards, only to be told they would do nothing. ]

I came back to Goldenrod. But I met someone who wasn't happy to see me. So I left. [ It wasn't the full truth but he had to protect Assumption. The Cubone in question was sitting nearby, picking at flowers and more subdued than he normally would be. ]

[If that was the extent of it, Walter wouldn't need to leave. Goldenrod is big enough that two people could go their separate ways and never meet again.

Which means there's something more to it.]

Did they threaten you? Or hurt you?

He hit me. [ That was easy to say. But he didn't really expect Manaka to really care. His face was carefully blank as he continued. ]

I was meant to meet someone there. A friend of his. Her Pokemon befriended Assumption. [ It's not said but the implication hangs there. It might have been a trap. ]

[Manaka sucks the inside of her cheek between her teeth as she listens to Walter talk. The feeling that roils around in her gut isn't entirely unfamiliar; it's fainter than the all-consuming emotion that had seized her when Saber was in danger, but still, it's close enough for her to recognize.

When it had been Saber, she had wanted to rain hell down upon the person responsible. Now, she's more concerned with making sure Walter isn't hurt. She doesn't believe for a moment that a single punch is all that had happened, even if Walter seems intent on withholding the whole truth from her.]

That doesn't mean you should have to leave and never come back! Where are you now?

I'm...I'm at the Sevii Islands.

[ He couldn't lie or avoid an outright question like that. He looked over at Assumption. Manaka was their...she was a fellow Rocket and they could trust her. She liked both of them for whatever reason. He closed his eyes as he spoke the next words, softly. ]

Assumption protected me. He attacked him. If people find out... I can't lose him. I can't have him taken from me. I've hurt people before so I'm hoping people will think it was me. Either way, I can't go back.

[At that reply, Manaka sobers some, her shoulders loosening from the taut posture they had been held in. It isn't fair. Assumption was only doing what anyone would, to protect someone they cared about. So why should he be in trouble, if that other person attacked first?

But, still— She can't dismiss Walter's concern. She understands what it means to have something, or someone, that you absolutely cannot lose.]

So... Then what? [When she answers him, she speaks more quietly than she had a moment ago, her voice laced with an uncharacteristic uncertainty.] Are you just going to stay there forever?

No. [ This at least, he sounds firm in. ]

I will come back, after the initial reaction has calmed. But I can't return to Goldenrod. I'll have to find a place to live, somewhere else.

[ But he didn't know many places. In one way, he wanted to run as far away from Goldenrod as he could and never look back. In another, Goldenrod was...not home, but a place he was familiar with. He knew the routes around the city. There were people there he had returned to see, like Manaka...he wanted to apologise but couldn't find the words. ]

[For a few seconds, there's nothing but silence on Manaka's end of the line. Finally, though, she answers:]

Okay. But when you find a place to stay, you better tell me where it is, so I can come visit!

...I will. [ There's a slight smile on his face at the thought. But he's just as honest about this as he was about his intention to return. Henry might keep him out of Goldenrod, but he won't keep him out of Johto. ]

[IC] Contact | victory_road

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