[Closed]

[dreamsofahero]

Who: Sion and Ryner
Where: Their house outside Ecruteak
When: October 3
Summary: Brooding and homesickness finally comes to a head
Rating: PG
Log:

Sion sat on a knoll near the edge of the pond out back, bundled up in a thick sweater against the autumn chill. He wasn't actually looking at the pond, though... or at anything in particular, when it came down to it. Much as training and looking after his (seemingly ever expanding) team took up so much of his time, he still never seemed to have enough to do lately, never seemed to be able to stay busy enough to keep his mind off things. It had been easier when they were traveling, with the planning and all the little tasks that needed to be done each day, but even with as many chores as could be found around the house, now Sion simply had too much time on his hands.

Which meant he got to thinking about things he was probably better off not thinking about. Which meant he'd started brooding on them. The situation back home. The people he'd known and lost here. What he'd been just about to do before being whisked away to this strange world....

It wasn't that he disliked it, exactly. In fact, he counted every day, every hour, every minute he spent with Ryner as a boon, as time he never would have had otherwise. But that didn't change what he knew had to happen, what he was going to have to do whenever they both returned to Roland. He'd never been happy about the choice he made, but he was sure it was the right one, the best one. For Ryner's sake, he had to.

The problem was, right now, Sion wasn't even sure he could, anymore.

With such melancholy thoughts circulating in his head, Sion sighed at his own foolishness and weakness, gazing sightlessly at the vista in front of him as he wondered what he was supposed to do now.

Comments

[tearsofademon]

Of course Ryner had noticed.

Although ignorant of the details (and many would say that's a good thing), he could tell. Sion being homesick, duty-bound to Roland as the king, was nothing new. Didn't make it any better seeing him brooding like that, but didn't make it any less expected either.

(And to an extent, Ryner understood. He didn't share the exact same view, of course, not being bound by duty and therefore instead seeing Johto more as freedom from everything that made his life hell, for others as well as himself. But every day that passed, he was reminded that Ferris wasn't there. Every Thunderbolt that Rose cast, he was reminded of his own magic that he could no longer call. And how can somewhere be heaven if your best friend isn't happy there?

Reasons why if there was a way to make a gate between worlds one could pass freely between, he'd offer his services despite his lazy nature.)

Noticing and doing anything about it are, of course, two completely separate things. Especially when Ryner's own opinions on the matter had always been different. But naturally Marian had noticed too, and she'd asked Ryner to talk to him, because she's worried and she of course doesn't know if it's her place to ask, as though that should matter, but then of course Rose saw them talking and got upset because she wasn't involved and what if Marian was scheming something, because of course Rose still could not let that go, he was already making a mental note to check the library for something soon because for god's sake... But ultimately, between a homesick Sion and an angry Rose, he'd rather let Rose cool off.

"Hey, Sion."

So it was that Ryner came to join Sion outside, bringing with him a couple freshly made mugs of tea - with the weather cooling off as it was, maybe it'd be helpful.

[dreamsofahero]

"Ah, Ryner."

Sion glanced up, a smile automatically falling into place with the ease of years of practice. If he was surprised by Ryner's approach, well, he wasn't letting on to it, though truthfully, his timing could have been better. Just now Sion was feeling uncomfortably, almost painfully aware of how fleeting their time was in the end.

"What brings you out here?"

[tearsofademon]

"Ahh, you know." He sat down next to Sion, offering him one of the mugs of tea. "Marian made tea, and I figured it's getting kinda chilly, so I figured you might want some."

Better to ease into it, right? Probably.

[dreamsofahero]

"By which you mean she insisted you bring me some?" Sion knew Marian meant well, but... well, it could be a bit much at times. And the topic was a reasonable distraction from his brooding just moments ago.

[tearsofademon]

"If you want to put it that way."

He sighed. "She's kinda worried about you. You've been brooding a little more than usual, and I guess she just wanted me to make sure you're okay."

Not that she'd had to try too hard to convince him. ...Especially with Rose being Rose, but.

[dreamsofahero]

Sion took a sip of his tea before replying, holding the mug in both hands to better appreciate its warmth.

"Perhaps it's just the cold," he said with a shrug. "It's bearable now, but knowing what's still to come..."

Yes, being somewhat gloomy because of gloomy weather was a good excuse, wasn't it?

[tearsofademon]

Uh huh. Sure. Ryner wasn't about to buy that that was all for a second.

"Well, yeah. Winter's gonna be a pain, even with the fire types all helping out... And that's not even getting into how bothersome October's gonna be, if the last few years are anything to go by." The less said about which, the better, but.

He leaned back a little to look up at the sky. "...Still, that's not all of what's got you down, is it."

[dreamsofahero]

"Don't remind me," Sion said with a grimace. "It's as though something about this world sets out to disrupt things given the slightest chance..."

Ryner's question earned a frown that was almost immediately smoothed into a slightly puzzled expression, however. "What are you talking about?"

[tearsofademon]

"You're worrying about home again, right?" It wasn't much of a question, really, but still. "About how Roland's holding up while you're here. Guess I can't really blame you for that."

[dreamsofahero]

Well, Ryner's assumption was technically true, more or less, though there certainly was more to it than he guessed. Not that Sion intended to tell him, of course.

"... Yeah," he admitted simply. There wasn't much more to say on the matter, as far as he was concerned.

[tearsofademon]

There was no reason for Ryner to suspect there was much more to it than that. (And many would say ignorance is bliss, in this case.) His best friend was homesick and duty-bound, simple as that.

"It's a real pain, you know? Johto's a great place, but... you've done so much for Roland. You shouldn't have to just leave that behind." He let his gaze fall to the pond in front of them and sighed. "And as much as I like it here, it wouldn't be the same without you" - it already wasn't the same without Ferris, hadn't been since she'd left - "but if you're not happy...

"...Haa, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I wish there was something in between, y'know?"

[dreamsofahero]

"I'm sure you could manage here without me," Sion said, almost offhandedly, staring unseeingly off into the distance. It didn't help any that a part of him did want to stay here, too. For as frustrating as this world could be at times, they were both more or less safe here, and if Sion could be assured that it was permanent... Well, he'd at least be tempted to throw away the world for Ryner's sake.

[tearsofademon]

Well yeah, he could, Ryner knew, or at least he was pretty sure. He'd managed ten months here by himself before Ferris had shown up, after all. If Sion disappeared tomorrow, it's not like he'd be physically incapable of managing things by himself. And it's not like he'd really be by himself, either - Rose would do everything she could, as would the other several-dozen Pokemon that had somehow found their way into his care these past few years.

But...

"I guess," he replied. "But it wouldn't be the same, without you around. I mean, even if you're an asshole who drives me up the wall sometimes, you're my best friend, Sion. I don't want to lose you."

Deep down, he knew that everything he had here was far better than he, with his cursed eyes (sealed as they were, here, or not) and blood-stained hands, deserved. He knew he was the last person who deserved to make wishes like that. But yet... was it really too much to ask of the world? All he wanted was his friend to be with him, and happy. Surely... Surely even he could be allowed that much, right?

[dreamsofahero]

Ryner deserved far more than he gave himself credit for, in Sion's opinion. And definitely far better than what Sion knew was coming. But try as he might, he couldn't think of any way to avoid it.

"I suppose nothing can last indefinitely," Sion remarked. "Though, you at least deserve something better than what I have to offer, something better than Roland."

[tearsofademon]

He closed his eyes, giving a quiet, self-deprecating half-laugh. "Heh, I dunno if 'deserve' is a word I'd use, when I'm involved." If it was what he deserved, he probably should have been killed when they first found him in that village, after all.

But then he turned to look at his friend. "Don't sell yourself short, though, Sion. You've done more for me than I could've ever asked for. And for Roland... You've done wonders there."

[dreamsofahero]

"But I still can't truly keep you safe, Ryner," Sion replied. "I... don't want to lose you either, but if it were possible for you to remain someplace like this..."

Someplace far away and safe from the nefarious doings under the surface of their world. Someplace safe from Sion, when it came down to it.

[tearsofademon]

"With you," Ryner appended, blissfully ignorant of Sion's thoughts. "And Ferris. If that was possible, if I could stay here with the two of you... Ahh, it's probably not gonna happen, though."

[dreamsofahero]

Sion fell silent for a moment at that, not having a ready reply to it. Ryner's words were touching, and Sion longed to be able to respond in kind, but he was too aware of what was coming back in Roland. What he had to do.

"... I suppose all there is for it is to make the best of things while it lasts," he finally said, quietly.

[tearsofademon]

"Yeah," he relented. "For however long that ends up being."

He reached over to place a hand on Sion's shoulder. "But while it lasts, maybe try not to worry so much about it. Granted, this is you we're talking about, but... If all you do is dread the day we go home, that's not really making the best of the time we've got, right?"

[dreamsofahero]

Sion sighed, still not looking at Ryner, though he did after a moment reach up to put one hand over Ryner's. Not the one holding the tea though, of course.

"That's one way to look at it..."

It didn't mean it was easy, though. Especially with the sense of guilt gnawing at him.

[tearsofademon]

"Can you think of a different one that won't drive you nuts with worry?" Ryner asked, almost in a teasing tone, but his meaning was honest.

[dreamsofahero]

"It doesn't change what will happen, sooner or later, though," Sion said. He was thinking of matters in Roland, of course, though inevitably leaving this place in general also played into it.

[tearsofademon]

"Well yeah, I know that."

(He didn't, actually, know. But then, he didn't know that he didn't know. Again, ignorance and bliss are quite synonymous in this case.)

"Sooner or later, this place'll send us back. Until then, we're here. Can't do anything to change that either way, ourselves. Unless that guy who's calling himself leader ever actually finds anything, but he's all talk."

He placed his own tea down next to him in order to bring that hand up to cover a yawn, not wanting to move the one on Sion's shoulder. "Ahhh, so since we can't do anything to change it, there's no reason to worry so much. Especially if it worries the Pokemon, right?"

[dreamsofahero]

Sion said nothing for a long moment, his hand on Ryner's gripping ever so slightly. It was easy for Ryner to say things like that, not having any idea what was to come, after all. But for Sion... was it really okay for him be so selfish, to forget about Roland and what he needed to do back home, and instead just enjoy spending time with his best friend?

In the end though, he pushed most of those thoughts aside, instead responding to the other part of Ryner's remark.

"That one who seemed to believe that all martial law consists of is declaring it?" he asked with an exasperated sigh.

[tearsofademon]

"Yeah, that guy," he said, with something of an annoyed sigh of his own. "Thinks he can keep people from leaving just by saying they're not allowed to. Didn't want to listen when I asked him how he plans to enforce it. Honestly. He could learn a lot from you, at least about getting stuff done."

...He couldn't help but playfully open one eye. "Though, if he actually sleeps without reminders, that's one point in his favor."

[dreamsofahero]

"I suppose 'getting things done' is one way to put it..." Sion could think of a few others. 'Mountain of corpses' being one of them.

He decided to ignore Ryner's second remark though in favor of pursuing a train of thought that had occurred to him.

"Though realistically speaking, if one had enough people and properly trained pokemon, I doubt it would be very hard to stage a military coup of some sort here..."

[tearsofademon]

"Probably not," Ryner concurred. "The real hard part would be getting anybody to actually care that you'd done so. There hasn't really been a government so far, no reason for anybody to care about one that starts up."

His eyes were drawn briefly to a little bit of sudden splashing in the middle of the pond - probably one or more of the fish playing or something.

"Besides, kind of a waste when there's not much a government could even do to fix this place's problems. Just having a king isn't gonna get rid of Team Rocket or anything."

[dreamsofahero]

"Generally, the point of a military coup is that you've secured enough might to force the issue," Sion pointed out.

"And that's precisely why some sort of organized authority would make a difference," he added in reply to Ryner's second remark. "As it is, there's no true consequences for crime, no way to either deter criminals nor protect citizens. Really, there's no government here to speak of. It would take some doing, but if someone were to amass the strength first to obtain a position of power, than organize a reasonably effective system..."

He trailed off with a slight shrug.

"While I'm sure there will always be dedicated troublemakers, it would certainly thin their ranks and weaken their power if more people were discouraged from aiding them."

[tearsofademon]

"It'd take a really large army for it to be strong enough for anybody here to care," said Ryner. "Everybody's from different worlds, with different ideas of what government should be, and that's leaving out the locals, who treat skipping out on a job a day early the same way as theft and assault.

"Just saying, seems like it wouldn't be worth the effort, when there's probably a better way to deal with things."

Then again, what did he know.

[dreamsofahero]

"You're assuming that no one would join the movement, once it's started," Sion pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few of those stranded here would favor the idea of any organization they feel is sufficiently reasonable, so...." He trailed off with a slight shrug.

Of course, he wasn't entirely sure whether it was worth the effort, himself, just for slightly different reasons.

[tearsofademon]

"Maybe a few. With how apathetic everybody seems, though, dunno that you'd get more than that."

After all, when had anyone done more than express disapproval of Team Rocket? Far as he could tell, nobody'd ever actually tried to do anything to stop them.