[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

...

"...if there had been danger, Calam would have warned me, and Ralts would have Teleported us out immediately.  If there were any selfish intentions in freeing it, Mesprit would likely still be trapped, waiting for someone new to find its hiding place and meet the qualifications to free it...for it could not free itself without being convinced by unselfish love first...I spent hours upon hours poring over that text in both parts of the message.  It wasn't until we returned to Stair that I understood its meaning."

There's a quiet fury building in Nathan...he's suppressing it as best as he can, though...for Ralts's sake...

"...forgive me for the jab and sting, but I find it...difficult to take stock in your judgements of me and Ralts when you have no idea what we've been through already, Heart."

...and then Nathan, probably surprisingly, lets the anger go.

"...you couldn't have known about anything I've not told you, of course, but I recommend you save further judgements for AFTER you've learned more about me and my best friend."

...he's talking about more than just Heart's most recent comments, obviously...

"...I don't intend to do anything that might get me or my pokemon killed or something.  I'm WELL aware that there are those relying on me, thank you very much."

"...and as I also said, Heart, Kirlia asked me to use the Neverstone on him, and he's still my best friend no matter the form he takes.  If you want to point fingers at someone for forcing their pokemon to change form against their will, you're looking at the wrong guy."

Ralts are HIGHLY sensitive to ALL emotion around them, even when KOed or asleep, so yeah...

Nathan takes a deeep breeeeaaaath, trying to stay focused and not lose his cool...he doesn't want to disturb Ralts's slumber...

"...thank you for the kind words, though..."

That's all just in response to Heart.  As for Ventus...well, a lot of it applies to that too, just without the...suppressed anger.  Maybe a slight amount of annoyance mixed in with a ton of resignation, though...

He just quietly sighs in response to Ventus as a result.  "...you know why I'm always thinking about that already, Ventus.  No reason to chew me out for it...if you need to know about something, I'll tell you.  That's all there is to it..."

Silence...

"...that's probably enough for tonight.  I need to make sure Ralts is okay.  Valder, if you could stick around a little longer, that'd be great.  Everyone else...goodnight, sleep tight...and don't let the Cubbugs bite.  We've got a long trip through Mt. Sentry tomorrow if we're headed for Cress City next."

(Insert the private conversation with Valder done via PM here after everyone else leaves)

Hearing that Nathan had indeed planned his release of Mespirt in exhaustive depth both pleased and relieved Ventus greatly, as it meant the boy WASN'T blithely charging ahead/making reckless decisions for himself and others, earning them a small smile from the researcher. However, that soon faded away as he quickly picked up the fury/resentment the boy held towards Heart for judgment/concern/past encounters , and their barbed comebacks him to frown in disapproval/distate. Granted, the friction and/or animosity between Nathan and Heart ( and just about everyone but Valder, for that matter) and their recent fallout over something ('I honestly need to ask for more details about that incident....') made such behavior somewhat justified, but that didn't mean he appreciated it anymore than he already did, nor condone it.

"I'm heartened you had your bases well and  covered, and I'm still very much proud of you for releasing the Being of Emotion from captivity, truly........but that doesn't change the fact you failed to inform us of your plans in the first place, Nathan, so our reaction towards such silence is justified to an extent. Your attitude towards Heart, while understandable given your recent conflict with him, is also wholely unnecessary in this instance, as all he was doing was expressing concern over your seemingly lack of concern for yourself, your own, or us in freeing Mespirt.," the researcher said to the boy, looking rather admonishing and plain tired of their jabs, before he continued onwards with a more.....disappointed and resigned tone of voice.


 "Forgive for saying this, Nathan, but at times I believe it would simply for the best if you accepted crtisim for mistakes or errors on your part with good grace and calmness, instead of retaliating against it. *Sighs* At the very least, guard your words more closely so they do not come across as inflammatory or provocative, and re-ignite conflicts that should have been put to rest. Heart may or may not have misjudged you and Ralts in the past and did wrong by you, but it does not invalidate his own belief and feelings towards you based on what he's learned thus far, or make his comments now any less genuine or sincere. At least, that is what I believe based what I know thus far. Feel free to take my assessment however you like, for good or ill."

As for the young trainer's response to his own words, the empath only sighed and gave them a nod of their head. For now, that was the best he could expect from them, plus he did give them enough credit now not to needlessly cause problems for himself/the group unless it was unavoidable. Frankly, he would rather be the judge of what is or is not worthy of his attention/due caution, but trying to force the issue wouldn't get him anywhere, so....

When Nathan announced he wished to end this discussion for the night, Ventus was all too, ready to agree, as he wished to get some rest for himself and get started on soothing his dearest's troubles away (Which he had picked up but choosen not to react, so as not to disrupt the flow of conversation, ready to make his out of the room with her and to their own......until the boy told his mercenary to stick around for abit. That caused him to stop in his tracks and turn to give them an curious/skeptical look, and Lucifer (who had started to doze off once the conversation turned away from the gems and Legendaries) perked up and gave a question croon at the boy too. What is the little boy hiding, huh?

"Nathan, what do desire to discuss with Valder in private that couldn't be shared with us all? If its of a personal matter between you too that will not impact the party in anyway, that is fine, but if not I and the rest of us would like to at least know the nature of topic...."