4:32PM…
He breathes in… and out.
Staring at the ceiling, Joshua finds himself in a lull after his… episode.
He supposes he should feel, what, embarrassed? Ashamed? He was in front of twenty thousand people after all.
But strangely, he can't find himself caring. A weightless sensation is flowing through him, a feeling of… relief? He knows the “weight off my shoulders” thing is cheesy and thrown around a lot, but he definitely understands why.
To have all of his frustrations, fears, his desperation and whatever else swirls within his cocktail of emotions just… come out, especially in such a raw, visceral and unrestrained way?
Despite the soreness of his body, and the uncomfortable feeling of his cold, sweat-soaked shirt sticking to his back, he feels… better.
Better.
Yeah. That's the word.
Not good, not great either. But… better.
The concerningly sharp edges of his cross glides across his fingers as he idly finagles with it.
Cold silver, but there's a constant, grounded comforting warmth he gets from it.
Without the… filter, he goes back and thinks of his decisions he's made, or ck thereof.
“Soap… why soap?”
Out of all things, why did he focus on soap?
Through some twist in irony, the first thing he actually went out of his way to find a recipe for was also the most notable example of the… side effects of the link.
“I don't even mind the smell… how much of that was Jophiel?”
Right now, soap is so far down his priority list that it's baffling to think that he went after it at all. Sure, it's a good thing to have, but Joshua is more interested in the enchantment runes and the tech tree that Ace left behind that's implied with their drill.
He's a grown man, as long as he doesn't stink, he doesn't care what he smells like.
But after Dr. Ambers, along with the other psychic type gym leaders, expined what was happening… it became clear.
Jophiel really dislikes being dirty.
Jophiel wants to smell nice.
Jophiel felt stronger feelings, and pced more importance on soap.
“Which then came to me…”
That scares him. He knows that Jophiel only wants the best for him… but he can't have his mind affected by that.
This is the first time, and if he gets unlucky, the LAST time he has this much leeway in the day without having to deal with demons. And instead of using that time to fortify himself and think of the future, he's thinking about soap.
Fucking soap of all things.
He groans, rubbing his face.
[Dr. Ambers: It's not her fault, Mr. Abrams]
“Of course it's not her fault” He murmurs.
He can't bme Jophiel for this.
[SabrinaOfficial: She had no idea of the effects the link had on your mind. An inexperienced psychic linked with an unhealthy mind will lead to disaster regardless of intentions]
“I'm just worried about how she's taking this…”
He occasionally heard hoofsteps approaching the door while he decompressed, she just stood there, like she's hesitating to come inside. Though after a while, she just leaves.
[TulipOfficial: Don't underestimate the bond you two have, Joshua. Especially one as special as yours]
He chuffs.
“Well my other option is walking mustard gas wrapped in a 10 year old girl's body, I'm kinda cking in options”
[TulipOfficial: Joshua, you do know that psychic links are extremely hard to maintain, right?]
“...what?” That throws him in a loop, he sits up with a small twinge of pain in his muscles.
[TulipOfficial: Psychic Bonds, or “Links”, only really st a few minutes on average. Even psychic type specialists struggled to maintain it for a few hours]
[TulipOfficial: It isn't because of psychic power, Links are directly tied to the BOND a trainer has to their Pokemon, a mutual understanding if that makes sense]
…he supposes that makes sense.
[SabrinaOfficial: You and Jophiel have been bonded for several days straight with no issue, that is practically unheard of, Joshua. The amount of trainers who can maintain a psychic link indefinitely could be counted on one hand]
[TulipOfficial: That's WITH an inexperienced psychic type, remember that]
[StevenStoneOffical: You truly have something special, Joshua.]
[IonoZone: HEAR THAT JOSH, UR SPECIAL!!! ＼(^^)／ ]
“...huh”
It warms his heart a little reading all that, he's sure Jophiel would appreciate this too. But it is admittedly odd, especially since he's had ZERO previous psychic encounters…
Is it because he's not from their world?
Wait… did he ever tell the chat that?
He takes a deep breath in…
And out.
In…
Out.
In…
“...Okay”
He pushes himself up.
Enough ying around and doing nothing.
He needs to do something, just to keep the day going.
Opening the door, he's met with…
“Mr. Joshua! You're okay!”
Gabriel is the first to notice him as he walks out the door, practically bouncing to him in excitement.
He flinches at her forelegs wrapping around his waist, but after confirming that he's not currently turning into organic sludge, he pats the gss dome with a patient smile.
“Hey Gabe. Yeah, I'm fine. I was… hm… a little sick, had a headache”
“Oh no!”
“Oh yes”
“Oh no!”
“Oh… yes?”
“Oh no!”
“Oh no”
“Oh no!”
“Oh no!”
Joshua snorts. She definitely reminds him of his little cousin.
“We'll be heading back in a little bit, you know where Jophiel went?”
Gabriel lets go of him and prances slightly in pce. Where she gets this boundless energy from, he has no idea.
“Oh! She, uh, she had to use the bathroom I think! I saw her go over there!”
She points with her hoof. Joshua notices that where she's pointing is further down the path they were taking.
Oh, she couldn't have gone far then.
“Let's go catch up with her, alright?”
“Sure!”
…
They walk in silence, Joshua looking around with rapt attention, trying to pick out her hair in the grass. Despite that, he doesn't see anything.
Fear grips his heart, but he swallows it down. Jophiel is the meanest unicorn-thing around, and he knows she's dying for an excuse to use her revolver.
He looks down at his Pokenav, then does a double-take.
“Hm?” Looking down at his map again, he notices a ft piece of terrain just on the edge of the uncovered area; it stands out amongst the rather chaotic top-down coloration of the mountains.
Is that a structure?
The hell is that doing there?
…
“Is that a fucking school?”
A familiar, yet unfamiliar structure. Large windows, outside pathways with faded decals of some kind of bull mascot?
It's nestled between the dip between two crested peaks, in the “bowl” of the mountains.
Again, there's a parking lot, with a road that ends abruptly. Once more it feels like a school was just plucked from somewhere and pced here without any thought.
It looks like… a high school?
He hears hoofsteps approaching, turning, he meets the gaze of a familiar mare who just emerged from the corner.
She goes to ignite her horn, but immediately stops. Her eyes are red, and her mane looks haggard.
“...P-Pony?”
Her lips are quivering, head hung low, and she refuses to meet his eyes.
Beside her, her shovel floats half broken, the spade deformed and covered in blood and flecks of bone.
She looks devastated.
Jophiel was there when Dr. Ambers expined what happened.
She's been hurting him.
Her partner, her second half, her beloved. She wasn't good enough, and she hurt him.
She feels like a lousy Pokemon, and an even worse companion.
There wasn't anything she could do, and that infuriated her as much as it saddened her.
So she went out to… vent. On some mobs.
“Yeah… I'm fine, love”
She opens her lips, then closes them. She closes her eyes in clear frustration, already missing the convenience of the link, but both know that's not an option right now.
There's a lot she wants to say, what she NEEDS to say. How she wants to wait until she's a better psychic before linking again, how sorry she is for hurting him. How she understands if he doesn't want to do it anymore. That she will be BETTER.
But she can't find the words…
So, she does the next best thing.
“P-Ponyta…”
She apologizes, for everything. Trying her best to put all of her emotions into it. Her jaw quivering a broken voice escapes her lips.
Joshua tenses.
How do you even respond to that?
To tell her it's not her fault, that it was never her fault. To let her know that he never bmed her, and he still cares for her all the same.
But he can't find the words…
So, he does the next best thing.
“P-Pony?”
He hugs her. Wrapping his arms around the mare in a warm embrace, pulling her into his chest with the same affection he's always shown to her.
Jophiel chokes up.
Joshua never heard a crying unicorn before.
He doesn't like it.
