[ The bird says something back that sounds vaguely like "You're pretty," which, you know, is definitely not something Saphir has intentionally taught her to say to him or anything. ]
W-well, I meant more like a sort of... sleepover thing, but...
[ WELL, they can come back to his secret slumber party wishes later. ]
Right. [ clears his throat!! ] So, this is the living room, and you've met Rhoda. [ She chimes in with some loud chirps followed by something that sounds like "shade", but we all know what that's supposed to be. ]
That's the door to the deck back there, and my bedroom is through here.
[ Somehow despite months of looking at this house, I did not comprehend where his bedroom was until I just spent two hours looking at interior photos of every house on the block that I could find, but THERE IT IS, with big doors that open straight into it from the living room for some reason. It's got a nice TV mounted on the wall, a big walk-in closet, an attached bathroom with a fancy bathtub, and plenty of silk flowers.
Back the way they came-- ]
Again, here's the dining room and kitchen that we came in through... You're welcome to anything in the fridge, just let me know if we're about to run out of anything. Glasses are here, dishes are here, silverware's in this drawer...
[ Pointing each of these things out... From the kitchen's other entrance into the front hall, he shows where the front door and a half bath are, and then that hall comes back into the living room again because this layout is apparently fucking confusing, and he leads the way down the stairs.
Downstairs is a somewhat more casual living room with a big TV and a Switch dock, and a study with some computers and half-finished robots and piles of papers and a nice little library cove, with books separated into three distinct sections, ostensibly by who they belong to. There's a mini kitchenette and a bathroom, and one door in between them that's closed. ]
And this is Marona's bedroom here. I'm not going to go snooping in there while she's away, but trust me, it's very cool! We made a bunch of seashell decorations and things-- oh, wait, I should have some pictures. [ Gets out his phone and pulls up some photos from when they first finished decorating!! Clearly more effort and care went into this room than into the rest of the rooms here. ] See??
[ Giovanni follows along, as impressed a tourist as Saphir could ask for, though at times he seems a touch preoccupied. But while any bed that's not in the shape of a race car seems like a missed opportunity to Giovanni, even he has to admit that Saphir's bedroom is extremely fancy, and he eyes the study with excitement once they hit the downstairs. Not quite as traditional a mad scientist lab as one might hope, but he'll take it!! Note to self: read all of Saphir's robot research later and absorb his powers.
He oohs over the pictures of Marona's room, but that reminds him of something he'd been meaning to ask, and Giovanni stands there awkwardly for a moment. He shifts from foot to foot, then blurts out: ]
Hey, uh. Did you really mean it, about wanting to have a sleepover? I wasn't trying to be - I mean, I didn't think you'd - were you serious?
Oh, okay. Cool. I just wasn't sure you'd want to, 'cause of how you're all fancy and I'm all, well... not.
[ Giovanni's face clouds for about half a second before returning to its usual wattage. ]
But you've really never had a sleepover before? Oh man, that's criminal, and not the cool kind of criminal like I am! We gotta change that! Stay up late, watch scary movies, talk about our crushes... Ooh, I brought nail polish!
[ He blinks at that first part. He has a pantry full of Velveeta shells and drives a Kia; his fanciness really doesn't go very deep. As he has been... reminded many times lately... ]
You know I invited you here because you're my friend and being with you makes me happy, right?
[ Turning slightly red and tucking his hair behind his ear... ]
And I mean, I've-- slept within the vicinity of other people, obviously [ like in the bunks at the mansion and at the military academy! ], just... not like that.
[ Like That, yes, but it's very much not the same!!
...He looks slightly nauseated by the "talk about crushes" part of that, actually, but perks back up at nail polish. ]
[ As true as that may be, it's important to note that it's not too difficult to qualify as fancy by Giovanni's standards. This is the man for whom taping a knife to a baseball bat is the height of sophisticated weaponry. ]
Yeah, being with me when you're awake! I didn't know you wanted me around when you were asleep too! I mean, can't blame you for not being able to get enough of me, but if I drool on one of your color-coordinated pillows you've got only yourself to blame, bud.
[ Flippant words to the contrary, Giovanni is very obviously feeling the warm fuzzies right now. He grins at Saphir, any blips in self-esteem forgotten, and totally ignorant of the momentary discomfort he's caused the poor man just now. ]
So, anything else you've always wanted to do at a sleepover with your favorite boss? Ooooh, this is gonna be so much fun!
[ Is unconscious soup drooling a thing? Not that he loves the idea of regular drool either...! And since that has now been put forth as a possibility-- ]
All right, you're getting one of the spare pillowcases.
[ Anyway!! ]
That aside, I think you've covered the bases pretty well. [ And he clearly isn't an expert on these things himself anyway. ] But yes, there are some things I think I'd like to talk about later. ...Um, non-crush things.
[ ... ]
Tangentially, do you... think it would be too weird if we played the video game based on my world? I mean, I have Mario Kart too! And... er, a few other things that aren't really multi-player. [ Maybe shouldn't confess to having bought FE3H for the primary purpose of vicariously marrying his friend's potential father-in-law. ] But, you know, you could see the horses this way.
[ Not all his bodily fluids are soup okay!!! But he still doesn't want to regular-drool on one of Saphir's nice pillows, so he doesn't argue. ]
Your world's game? Um, duh!! I gotta see you in action! I mean, maybe not action action, you're not really the action-y type, huh? Guessing you're, like, the sidekick friend that gives the hero all his cool gadgets!
[ Is he close? He's totally close, right? ]
Also yes, I need to see those horses. Still not a hundred percent sure you didn't make them up. Did you know this world's horses are the same kind as in my world? That's two points for normal horses, so there!
...But we gotta watch an episode of my show after, okay? That's the rules!
[ Look, if you expect him to keep track of which are and which aren't, you're going to have to make him a list. ]
...No, I'm actually also a villain, as it turns out. [ But like, an actual one, even if he's usually portrayed as a joke, and he's had some mixed feelings about it. ] I hope when we get there that you'll keep in mind that this is very much in the future for me, and that I haven't personally done everything that version of me does.
[ Like, honestly, he wouldn't really care that much except that he feels like Giovanni might be disappointed in him for some of the stuff he gets involved in, so. (Though he's also pretty sure he'll think his titles are cool, so there's that.) ]
And yes, at this point I'll concede that my horses are atypical.
[ Even the other games in the Tales series don't have horses like that... ]
[ Anyway, watching an episode of whatever is presumably going to be much less of an undertaking than playing a JRPG, but it's kind of nice to share them both. Honestly, for people in their extraordinary situation, he feels like this is probably one of the most intimate things possible. Definite best friend stuff!!!! ]
I don't mind if you don't, just show me where to stream it.
[ Giovanni's instinctive reaction would be to declare how proud he is, throw his arms around Saphir, and maybe tear up a little, except... it looks like Saphir himself isn't all that excited about this development. That's troubling. Giovanni wants to ask what exactly Saphir's worried about him seeing, but there's probably a reason he'd rather have Giovanni experience it for himself. Plus, now he's just curious about the game and the world Saphir comes from in general. He hasn't really poked around at anyone else's media except his datefriends', so hell yeah this is going to be a Prime Bonding Experience!! ]
Oh yeah, no problem, it's all on YouTube. But let's totally play your game first! Let's play it now! Unless you wanted to do other stuff, in which case... let's do other stuff now!!
Yes, we can do that! I'll get it set up on the computer downstairs, then. It's just on an emulator because it's sort of old and I don't have the system they originally made it for, but I've controllers and everything, so it should play pretty normally.
[ And this way he can do Japanese audio because it's somehow less embarrassing to listen to himself when he can't actually understand what he's saying. ]
It's not going to be something we can get through in a day, for the record, so if you want to take a break to watch some of your show at any point, let me know.
[ And he's going to pull up a walkthrough on his phone so he can make sure he doesn't miss any important sidequests that are relevant to him, because APPARENTLY the anime he watched before left a lot of that stuff out, as he has recently learned from the wiki!!
So they can grab some drinks or whatever and then head down to play! Have fun with Jade seeming almost nothing like how Saphir ever described him. ]
[ Okay!! They're all set up and it's time to play... Tales of the Abyss? Well, that's an extremely cool name, even if he doesn't know what it has to do with Saphir yet. Note to self: work "Abyss" into one of his weapon names in the future. ]
Awww, who's this redhead kid? I don't wanna play as some little punk! Hey, when do you show up? Soon? It's soon, right?
[ Whenever Saphir's not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, "Where's Saphir?"
It doesn't take Giovanni long to get the hang of the combat system, at least, and he's gotten pretty well into the swing of things by the time a familiar face shows up. Well, familiar to one of them, anyway; Giovanni has no idea what Jade Curtiss looks like, but once his name's spoken, Giovanni's hand stills on the controller. He glances over at Saphir cautiously. ]
That's... that's him, right? Your best friend? The super cool genius who can do anything?
[ It's gotta be hard, after so many years, to only be able to see the guy through a computer screen. He watches Saphir for signs of needing a hug. ]
[ Thankfully he already watched the anime years ago, so he's had time to deal with most of this!! ]
That's him, yes. He's... different than he used to be. The Jade I knew never joked around like this.
[ If he didn't know who it was, he'd probably find this character pretty insufferable, to be honest!!
He points out a bunch of things as they go, like the Malkuth military uniform he used to wear and the rappigs in Engeve and how this Fon Master's predecessor Evenos was still in the role when he'd left. And, once Jade is in the party, that Energy Blast fonic arte he'd tried to use during that one trial.
Some stuff happens with an attack on the Tartarus, including "Ligers are dropping from the griffins!", which is objectively the best line ever spoken in a video game and which I may have paid to have engraved on a brick at my college. Luke kills a guy and has a moral crisis, whatever!!!
Then, it's time for St. Binah, where things will really pick up!!! First, there's a fucking grade-A shot of those horses at the city gate -- they'd shown up earlier when Luke and Tear had hitched a ride on that first coach, but they're much clearer here, and he points at the screen triumphantly. ]
See?! Don't those look exactly like my drawing??? You can't tell me they don't!!
[ Inside the town, he comments on how he worked with Field Marshal McGovern (who is quite frankly the cutest old man ever) before, and then IT'S TIME FOR DIST'S NOT-PARTICULARLY-GRAND ENTRANCE where everyone ignores him.
Even if the name is different, and even if he still looks a little older in the game, it is... very clearly him, and he looks kind of self conscious about it. ]
[ Giovanni reacts appropriately to all of this, including declaring it his life's mission to own about twelve rappigs. Shut up they're adorable. ]
Yeah, yeah, okay, I guess you didn't make up those dog-dino-horses of yours. I still say they're freakin' weird, though.
[ And then - there he is, looking very nearly the same as the guy sitting next to Giovanni right now. His gaze shifts between the screen and Saphir incredulously. The floating chair, the insistence on the name "Dist the Rose"... it's all a lot to take in.
But it's got to be even weirder for Saphir, right? Watching his own show was already pretty trippy, but at least in the episodes Giovanni's seen, it's just been him doing stuff he remembers doing. He's been reluctant to go past that point - it won't be him he's watching anymore, but some kind of doppelgänger living someone else's life. For Saphir, this Dist guy has to be that times a thousand.
So he doesn't laugh, even though Dist is, lbr, a grade-A weenie. And he doesn't say that the title "God-General" sounds extremely cool, even though it does. He settles on: ]
So, uh. "Dist". Does that mean anything?
[ There's gotta be a reason why he changed his name, and to Giovanni's ears, the one doesn't sound particularly more imposing than the other. But he doesn't speak Tales-ian. ]
[ PLEASE DON'T OWN TWELVE RAPPIGS, those people are his least favorite people...
And yes, it is indeed an extremely unsettling experience on his part, both for the disconnect and the weenie factor. It's like having his score read but much more vivid since he's watching it all play out directly in detail, and none of the bad parts get glossed over. Sometimes he sort of regrets that he ever googled his name. ]
I mean, none of them use their real names, it's a God-General thing. The rest are all obvious music references, so I assume it should also be related somehow? Though I also wonder if it isn't partially referencing disthene, an alternate name for another blue gemstone.
[ Like, if he came up with it himself, it almost definitely is, though he's still a little lost on the music part.
From there they continue on to the Fubras River, where they get a lesson about Fields of Fonons and altered artes, where he says that SEE, this is what happened when he used that arte during the trial, because Subete used light magic before him, and the residual particles made his arte change without realizing it!!! And then Choral Castle, where Dist shows up again, and Saphir spoils things a little by explaining that that big weird machine Luke wakes up on is a fomicry machine that he made himself.
On to the end of the first Chesedonia trip, where he shows up to get ignored once again -- of note here, the fact that he's talking about wanting to kill Jade, and the mention of his revenge journal.
[ Okay, he could be convinced to cut it down to eleven rappigs. For you, Saphir. ]
Flay that - Wait, Jade? You wanna kill him?
[ Giovanni blurts this out without thinking, even though the "you" part, at least, was probably a little insensitive. He glances at Saphir apologetically. ]
Uh, alternate future video game you, I mean. So... I'm guessing you guys aren't best friends anymore.
[ He's no friendologist, but this feels like a pretty big 180. ]
It makes that very clear eventually... though in fairness, I'm sure I'm just being dramatic there again and that I wouldn't really want to go that far.
[ There's a brief pause, but this is his life, so he doesn't really care about revealing spoilers. ]
He abandoned our research and gave up on the Professor, apparently. About a week after the point I came from before. If time had been progressing normally there, he would have already been long gone when I was singing his praises to you and insisting that he wouldn't leave me.
[ The hand on his shoulder definitely isn't unwelcome, and he scoots over a little bit closer. At that assertion, though, he blinks, brow furrowing slightly. ]
T-that's not true.
[ There was little he was ever better than Jade at, and Jade was much cooler and better looking, and everyone who found either of them tolerable always liked Jade better.
But this Jade was flawed, not like the one in his memories. He'd given up on the most important mission in their lives, and he had that awful, phony smile, not like the real one Saphir had so wanted to see on him again.
The careless cruelty toward him was one thing that really hadn't changed too much, but it felt sharper now, and it was harder to let it roll off his back than it once was. ]
Yeah? Then why'd he drop you like a hot potato as soon as he found something else?
[ Giovanni sighs, shaking his head. On the one hand, he feels like he shouldn't push the point; he doesn't want Saphir mad at him, and he's honestly afraid the poor man's worldview might crumble if he did admit Jade were a less-than-ideal friend. But at the same time, he can't just let Saphir keep treating himself like crap, can he? So he takes a deep breath and makes one last attempt. ]
Look, I'm not trying to be a jerk. I mean, I sure don't have the whole story. Maybe he really is as great as all that, and he had some amazing and noble reason for leaving you behind, or whatever. But if you asked me, I'd say you deserve friends who won't give up on you. That's all.
He let stupid Peony convince him that our work was ethically wrong, is what happened. [ So from someone else's perspective, it really might have been a noble reason -- but definitely not from his. ] And I don't forgive either of them for that!
[ The dialogue bubble that's still up on the screen can speak to that, and he looks back to it before averting his eyes again. ]
And I don't-- I don't like this Jade. I like the one in my memories.
[ He frowns and bites his lip, hesitating before continuing that thought. ]
But even that one never liked me. I was the only one that ever actually called us friends.
[ He puts his own controller down for now, and after a moment of blinking back tears upon actually saying that out loud, he sits back with a huff, grabbing the throw pillow beside him and squeezing it to his chest. ]
I don't think it's fair either! I always did so much for him that-- even if he didn't actually like me, I feel like he should have done it anyway out of obligation or something. He could have at least pretended to be my friend to pay me back for everything.
But he didn't, so...
[ His indignation deflates again, and he loosens his grip on the pillow. That whole "deserving better" thing is bringing up a whole other mess of negative feelings, but he knows it's well-intentioned in this case, at least, and he's not ready to get into that. ]
[ Okay, some of that makes absolute sense, and some of it's a little concerning. Giovanni sets down his own controller, turning to take in Saphir fully. ]
I mean... you know you can't make someone be your friend, though, right? Would you really want him to just pretend, even if you knew he was faking? If it was me, I think that'd hurt worse than just ripping the band-aid off altogether, you know?
I know, I just... I wish the people I liked the most ever felt the same way about me. And I don't know why nothing I do is ever enough for that.
[ He's still pretty sure he could live with the pretending, though he doesn't say so. It's different when he has to lie about himself, when he knows for a fact that things aren't real, but when it's coming from someone else, he can almost always convince himself if he tries hard enough. He'd nearly taken a bullet to try to cling onto Hikage's lies, but Giovanni hadn't been there to see that. ]
...You're in a separate category, obviously.
[ This friendship was never anything like the others, and it probably says something that it's pretty much the only one that didn't start with him idolizing the other person and desperately vying for their attention.
[ Giovanni scoots over toward Saphir, noodly arms wrapping around him in a firm hug. One hand rubs circles on his back in a manner Giovanni hopes is at least a little soothing, because the poor man really needs it. ]
Yeah, it sucks. It sucks hard. But you gotta remember you do have people who care about you at least as much as you care about them. People like Pointy End and... well, and me.
[ Giovanni kind of wants to ask what makes him different. He does like Saphir the most out of his friends in this world, except maybe Sissel, so that means... Saphir is the one who doesn't feel the same way? And yeah, okay, that does kind of hurt. But he puts it aside. ]
And if other people can't tell what a great guy you are, they're the ones missing out! Screw 'em! I will tell you this literally every day for the rest of your life if I need to!
[ Caught up in righteousness, Giovanni might be squeezing Saphir a little harder than intended. He is, as mentioned, a noodle, so it's not life-threatening or anything, but Saphir might still want to speak up if he's attached to the current shape of his lungs. ]
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reanimania) wrote2020-06-18 07:45 am
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W-well, I meant more like a sort of... sleepover thing, but...
[ WELL, they can come back to his secret slumber party wishes later. ]
Right. [ clears his throat!! ] So, this is the living room, and you've met Rhoda. [ She chimes in with some loud chirps followed by something that sounds like "shade", but we all know what that's supposed to be. ]
That's the door to the deck back there, and my bedroom is through here.
[ Somehow despite months of looking at this house, I did not comprehend where his bedroom was until I just spent two hours looking at interior photos of every house on the block that I could find, but THERE IT IS, with big doors that open straight into it from the living room for some reason. It's got a nice TV mounted on the wall, a big walk-in closet, an attached bathroom with a fancy bathtub, and plenty of silk flowers.
Back the way they came-- ]
Again, here's the dining room and kitchen that we came in through... You're welcome to anything in the fridge, just let me know if we're about to run out of anything. Glasses are here, dishes are here, silverware's in this drawer...
[ Pointing each of these things out... From the kitchen's other entrance into the front hall, he shows where the front door and a half bath are, and then that hall comes back into the living room again because this layout is apparently fucking confusing, and he leads the way down the stairs.
Downstairs is a somewhat more casual living room with a big TV and a Switch dock, and a study with some computers and half-finished robots and piles of papers and a nice little library cove, with books separated into three distinct sections, ostensibly by who they belong to. There's a mini kitchenette and a bathroom, and one door in between them that's closed. ]
And this is Marona's bedroom here. I'm not going to go snooping in there while she's away, but trust me, it's very cool! We made a bunch of seashell decorations and things-- oh, wait, I should have some pictures. [ Gets out his phone and pulls up some photos from when they first finished decorating!! Clearly more effort and care went into this room than into the rest of the rooms here. ] See??
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He oohs over the pictures of Marona's room, but that reminds him of something he'd been meaning to ask, and Giovanni stands there awkwardly for a moment. He shifts from foot to foot, then blurts out: ]
Hey, uh. Did you really mean it, about wanting to have a sleepover? I wasn't trying to be - I mean, I didn't think you'd - were you serious?
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[ Giovanni's face clouds for about half a second before returning to its usual wattage. ]
But you've really never had a sleepover before? Oh man, that's criminal, and not the cool kind of criminal like I am! We gotta change that! Stay up late, watch scary movies, talk about our crushes... Ooh, I brought nail polish!
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You know I invited you here because you're my friend and being with you makes me happy, right?
[ Turning slightly red and tucking his hair behind his ear... ]
And I mean, I've-- slept within the vicinity of other people, obviously [ like in the bunks at the mansion and at the military academy! ], just... not like that.
[ Like That, yes, but it's very much not the same!!
...He looks slightly nauseated by the "talk about crushes" part of that, actually, but perks back up at nail polish. ]
Ah... y-yes, that sounds fun!
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Yeah, being with me when you're awake! I didn't know you wanted me around when you were asleep too! I mean, can't blame you for not being able to get enough of me, but if I drool on one of your color-coordinated pillows you've got only yourself to blame, bud.
[ Flippant words to the contrary, Giovanni is very obviously feeling the warm fuzzies right now. He grins at Saphir, any blips in self-esteem forgotten, and totally ignorant of the momentary discomfort he's caused the poor man just now. ]
So, anything else you've always wanted to do at a sleepover with your favorite boss? Ooooh, this is gonna be so much fun!
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All right, you're getting one of the spare pillowcases.
[ Anyway!! ]
That aside, I think you've covered the bases pretty well. [ And he clearly isn't an expert on these things himself anyway. ] But yes, there are some things I think I'd like to talk about later. ...Um, non-crush things.
[ ... ]
Tangentially, do you... think it would be too weird if we played the video game based on my world? I mean, I have Mario Kart too! And... er, a few other things that aren't really multi-player. [ Maybe shouldn't confess to having bought FE3H for the primary purpose of vicariously marrying his friend's potential father-in-law. ] But, you know, you could see the horses this way.
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[ Not all his bodily fluids are soup okay!!! But he still doesn't want to regular-drool on one of Saphir's nice pillows, so he doesn't argue. ]
Your world's game? Um, duh!! I gotta see you in action! I mean, maybe not action action, you're not really the action-y type, huh? Guessing you're, like, the sidekick friend that gives the hero all his cool gadgets!
[ Is he close? He's totally close, right? ]
Also yes, I need to see those horses. Still not a hundred percent sure you didn't make them up. Did you know this world's horses are the same kind as in my world? That's two points for normal horses, so there!
...But we gotta watch an episode of my show after, okay? That's the rules!
1/2
...No, I'm actually also a villain, as it turns out. [ But like, an actual one, even if he's usually portrayed as a joke, and he's had some mixed feelings about it. ] I hope when we get there that you'll keep in mind that this is very much in the future for me, and that I haven't personally done everything that version of me does.
[ Like, honestly, he wouldn't really care that much except that he feels like Giovanni might be disappointed in him for some of the stuff he gets involved in, so. (Though he's also pretty sure he'll think his titles are cool, so there's that.) ]
And yes, at this point I'll concede that my horses are atypical.
[ Even the other games in the Tales series don't have horses like that... ]
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I don't mind if you don't, just show me where to stream it.
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[ Giovanni's instinctive reaction would be to declare how proud he is, throw his arms around Saphir, and maybe tear up a little, except... it looks like Saphir himself isn't all that excited about this development. That's troubling. Giovanni wants to ask what exactly Saphir's worried about him seeing, but there's probably a reason he'd rather have Giovanni experience it for himself. Plus, now he's just curious about the game and the world Saphir comes from in general. He hasn't really poked around at anyone else's media except his datefriends', so hell yeah this is going to be a Prime Bonding Experience!! ]
Oh yeah, no problem, it's all on YouTube. But let's totally play your game first! Let's play it now! Unless you wanted to do other stuff, in which case... let's do other stuff now!!
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[ And this way he can do Japanese audio because it's somehow less embarrassing to listen to himself when he can't actually understand what he's saying. ]
It's not going to be something we can get through in a day, for the record, so if you want to take a break to watch some of your show at any point, let me know.
[ And he's going to pull up a walkthrough on his phone so he can make sure he doesn't miss any important sidequests that are relevant to him, because APPARENTLY the anime he watched before left a lot of that stuff out, as he has recently learned from the wiki!!
So they can grab some drinks or whatever and then head down to play! Have fun with Jade seeming almost nothing like how Saphir ever described him. ]
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Awww, who's this redhead kid? I don't wanna play as some little punk! Hey, when do you show up? Soon? It's soon, right?
[ Whenever Saphir's not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, "Where's Saphir?"
It doesn't take Giovanni long to get the hang of the combat system, at least, and he's gotten pretty well into the swing of things by the time a familiar face shows up. Well, familiar to one of them, anyway; Giovanni has no idea what Jade Curtiss looks like, but once his name's spoken, Giovanni's hand stills on the controller. He glances over at Saphir cautiously. ]
That's... that's him, right? Your best friend? The super cool genius who can do anything?
[ It's gotta be hard, after so many years, to only be able to see the guy through a computer screen. He watches Saphir for signs of needing a hug. ]
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That's him, yes. He's... different than he used to be. The Jade I knew never joked around like this.
[ If he didn't know who it was, he'd probably find this character pretty insufferable, to be honest!!
He points out a bunch of things as they go, like the Malkuth military uniform he used to wear and the rappigs in Engeve and how this Fon Master's predecessor Evenos was still in the role when he'd left. And, once Jade is in the party, that Energy Blast fonic arte he'd tried to use during that one trial.
Some stuff happens with an attack on the Tartarus, including "Ligers are dropping from the griffins!", which is objectively the best line ever spoken in a video game and which I may have paid to have engraved on a brick at my college. Luke kills a guy and has a moral crisis, whatever!!!
Then, it's time for St. Binah, where things will really pick up!!! First, there's a fucking grade-A shot of those horses at the city gate -- they'd shown up earlier when Luke and Tear had hitched a ride on that first coach, but they're much clearer here, and he points at the screen triumphantly. ]
See?! Don't those look exactly like my drawing??? You can't tell me they don't!!
[ Inside the town, he comments on how he worked with Field Marshal McGovern (who is quite frankly the cutest old man ever) before, and then IT'S TIME FOR DIST'S NOT-PARTICULARLY-GRAND ENTRANCE where everyone ignores him.
Even if the name is different, and even if he still looks a little older in the game, it is... very clearly him, and he looks kind of self conscious about it. ]
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Yeah, yeah, okay, I guess you didn't make up those dog-dino-horses of yours. I still say they're freakin' weird, though.
[ And then - there he is, looking very nearly the same as the guy sitting next to Giovanni right now. His gaze shifts between the screen and Saphir incredulously. The floating chair, the insistence on the name "Dist the Rose"... it's all a lot to take in.
But it's got to be even weirder for Saphir, right? Watching his own show was already pretty trippy, but at least in the episodes Giovanni's seen, it's just been him doing stuff he remembers doing. He's been reluctant to go past that point - it won't be him he's watching anymore, but some kind of doppelgänger living someone else's life. For Saphir, this Dist guy has to be that times a thousand.
So he doesn't laugh, even though Dist is, lbr, a grade-A weenie. And he doesn't say that the title "God-General" sounds extremely cool, even though it does. He settles on: ]
So, uh. "Dist". Does that mean anything?
[ There's gotta be a reason why he changed his name, and to Giovanni's ears, the one doesn't sound particularly more imposing than the other. But he doesn't speak Tales-ian. ]
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And yes, it is indeed an extremely unsettling experience on his part, both for the disconnect and the weenie factor. It's like having his score read but much more vivid since he's watching it all play out directly in detail, and none of the bad parts get glossed over. Sometimes he sort of regrets that he ever googled his name. ]
I mean, none of them use their real names, it's a God-General thing. The rest are all obvious music references, so I assume it should also be related somehow? Though I also wonder if it isn't partially referencing disthene, an alternate name for another blue gemstone.
[ Like, if he came up with it himself, it almost definitely is, though he's still a little lost on the music part.
From there they continue on to the Fubras River, where they get a lesson about Fields of Fonons and altered artes, where he says that SEE, this is what happened when he used that arte during the trial, because Subete used light magic before him, and the residual particles made his arte change without realizing it!!! And then Choral Castle, where Dist shows up again, and Saphir spoils things a little by explaining that that big weird machine Luke wakes up on is a fomicry machine that he made himself.
On to the end of the first Chesedonia trip, where he shows up to get ignored once again -- of note here, the fact that he's talking about wanting to kill Jade, and the mention of his revenge journal.
He clears his throat awkwardly. ]
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Flay that - Wait, Jade? You wanna kill him?
[ Giovanni blurts this out without thinking, even though the "you" part, at least, was probably a little insensitive. He glances at Saphir apologetically. ]
Uh, alternate future video game you, I mean. So... I'm guessing you guys aren't best friends anymore.
[ He's no friendologist, but this feels like a pretty big 180. ]
Does it ever say why?
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[ There's a brief pause, but this is his life, so he doesn't really care about revealing spoilers. ]
He abandoned our research and gave up on the Professor, apparently. About a week after the point I came from before. If time had been progressing normally there, he would have already been long gone when I was singing his praises to you and insisting that he wouldn't leave me.
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[ What do you even say to a development like that? Giovanni abandons the controller for a moment to lay a hand on Saphir's shoulder. ]
Sounds to me like you were too good for him, Replicator.
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T-that's not true.
[ There was little he was ever better than Jade at, and Jade was much cooler and better looking, and everyone who found either of them tolerable always liked Jade better.
But this Jade was flawed, not like the one in his memories. He'd given up on the most important mission in their lives, and he had that awful, phony smile, not like the real one Saphir had so wanted to see on him again.
The careless cruelty toward him was one thing that really hadn't changed too much, but it felt sharper now, and it was harder to let it roll off his back than it once was. ]
I think.
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[ Giovanni sighs, shaking his head. On the one hand, he feels like he shouldn't push the point; he doesn't want Saphir mad at him, and he's honestly afraid the poor man's worldview might crumble if he did admit Jade were a less-than-ideal friend. But at the same time, he can't just let Saphir keep treating himself like crap, can he? So he takes a deep breath and makes one last attempt. ]
Look, I'm not trying to be a jerk. I mean, I sure don't have the whole story. Maybe he really is as great as all that, and he had some amazing and noble reason for leaving you behind, or whatever. But if you asked me, I'd say you deserve friends who won't give up on you. That's all.
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[ The dialogue bubble that's still up on the screen can speak to that, and he looks back to it before averting his eyes again. ]
And I don't-- I don't like this Jade. I like the one in my memories.
[ He frowns and bites his lip, hesitating before continuing that thought. ]
But even that one never liked me. I was the only one that ever actually called us friends.
[ He puts his own controller down for now, and after a moment of blinking back tears upon actually saying that out loud, he sits back with a huff, grabbing the throw pillow beside him and squeezing it to his chest. ]
I don't think it's fair either! I always did so much for him that-- even if he didn't actually like me, I feel like he should have done it anyway out of obligation or something. He could have at least pretended to be my friend to pay me back for everything.
But he didn't, so...
[ His indignation deflates again, and he loosens his grip on the pillow. That whole "deserving better" thing is bringing up a whole other mess of negative feelings, but he knows it's well-intentioned in this case, at least, and he's not ready to get into that. ]
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I mean... you know you can't make someone be your friend, though, right? Would you really want him to just pretend, even if you knew he was faking? If it was me, I think that'd hurt worse than just ripping the band-aid off altogether, you know?
...Also, do you want a hug?
[ From someone who isn't a pillow? ]
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[ He's still pretty sure he could live with the pretending, though he doesn't say so. It's different when he has to lie about himself, when he knows for a fact that things aren't real, but when it's coming from someone else, he can almost always convince himself if he tries hard enough. He'd nearly taken a bullet to try to cling onto Hikage's lies, but Giovanni hadn't been there to see that. ]
...You're in a separate category, obviously.
[ This friendship was never anything like the others, and it probably says something that it's pretty much the only one that didn't start with him idolizing the other person and desperately vying for their attention.
At that offer, he nods. ]
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[ Giovanni scoots over toward Saphir, noodly arms wrapping around him in a firm hug. One hand rubs circles on his back in a manner Giovanni hopes is at least a little soothing, because the poor man really needs it. ]
Yeah, it sucks. It sucks hard. But you gotta remember you do have people who care about you at least as much as you care about them. People like Pointy End and... well, and me.
[ Giovanni kind of wants to ask what makes him different. He does like Saphir the most out of his friends in this world, except maybe Sissel, so that means... Saphir is the one who doesn't feel the same way? And yeah, okay, that does kind of hurt. But he puts it aside. ]
And if other people can't tell what a great guy you are, they're the ones missing out! Screw 'em! I will tell you this literally every day for the rest of your life if I need to!
[ Caught up in righteousness, Giovanni might be squeezing Saphir a little harder than intended. He is, as mentioned, a noodle, so it's not life-threatening or anything, but Saphir might still want to speak up if he's attached to the current shape of his lungs. ]
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