12th bloom; renewal

[punchtheflowers]

[Video feed turns on, and a face that has been somewhat absent from the school this past month greets the screen. He is astoundingly disheveled, covered in a mossy beard, long, wild hair the usual facial piercings. For some reason he's also got monk's robes on? You can probably imagine he smells pretty strong right now too. Because he does. He smells overwhelmingly of flowers.

Vinnie's still a little out of breath and maybe a bit red in the face for some reason, but he's home. And looking a good deal happier than he did when he left in December.]

Al'right, I'm pretty sure I was gone at least 5 months, so... [He glanced at the calender on the computer.] Is this right? It's still Feburary here? Shit, no wonder nothing's blooming yet.

Uh, I dunno if you got all my letters then. Well. [Pause.] S'that mean there's another one of me runnin' around in Johto right now...?

[Time travel, you were really weird. But he wasn't going to think too hard on that right now. Vinnie shrugged and smiled.] I guess I'm back. Did I miss anything important? Has everyone been okay? Red? Where is everyone? I really miss the shit out've you guys.

((ooc note: thanks to Celebi, Vinnie's been 'ported back to school! His solo logs will, however, continue in 'real time.' So if he mentions something that hasn't happened to him in the logs... chronologically, it hasn't yet.))

Comments

1/???

[punchbulba]

[...]

2/?

[punchbulba]

[Oh hi really sad feeling at the pit of Marie's stomach, how are you?]

3/...4 i think.

[punchbulba]

[Wait no THIS WAS HORRIBLE TIMING.]

4/? i lied

[punchbulba]

[Hold up, wait, still really mad at Vinnie.]

5/5

[punchbulba]

[BUT BY THEN IT WAS ALL TOO LATE. Marie had turned on his video feed.

Hey, look. It was totally Bulba.]

...Uh. Welcome back.

you are a tit

[punchtheflowers]

Hey!

[As glad as he was to see Bulba though, Vinnie's happy demeanor faded as he noticed the sour look on the Ivysaur's face. He blinked with concern.]

Are you al'right? Did somethin' happen?

i know you are but what am i

[punchbulba]

[At Vinnie's concern, Marie's expression fell even moreso. He was not particularly good at this pretending to be Bulba thing.]

No. I'm fine.

How was your thing, or whatever...

you are still the tit.

[punchtheflowers]

[Something wasn't right here. Something was pinging his big brother senses. Bulba didn't talk like that. And that grumpy expression was definitely not a Bulba face. Vinnie narrowed his eyes and stared at the screen.]

...The hell. Did you get swapped?

Marie?

[punchbulba]

[Stare.]

How do you even know what that is?

[punchtheflowers]

Max told me 'bout it. It's happened to him at least twice, with Bulba and Blast. I dunno why it's always Green's team.

When did it happen? Are you in your room or... uh, Bulba's room or something?

[punchbulba]

Oh.

I dunno, the other day. I'm in my room. Don't come over.

[punchtheflowers]

I miss you. Of course I'm coming over.

[punchbulba]

I just said not to.

[punchtheflowers]

You're still mad at me.

[punchbulba]

...

Yeah.

1/2

[punchtheflowers]

And I still miss you. And it doesn't matter if I come over, cuz you'll be mad at me either way, so I'm coming over.

[END VIDEO FEED]

2/2

[punchtheflowers]

[And then Marie's door opened. There was no escape, Vinnie's dorm was right beside yours and all. But at least this time he come exploding through your doorway.

Man, he smells a lot. Even from where he was standing in the hall, you could smell the sweet springtime pollen cloud he had going on.]

M...?

[punchbulba]

[Marie could have left before Vinnie got there. He had definitely considered it. But, no. He stayed exactly where he was. Even when the door opened, Marie didn't even bother looking over. He tensed up, but he hardly moved.

It was tempting to not say anything.]

What?

[punchtheflowers]

[Well, he was going to walk in and close the door behind him, then. Vinnie leaned against the wall, like some aromatic punk hobo monk. He had his cellphone.]

I'm sorry I didn't get your text before I left. I'm sorry for leavin', too. I know I gotta lot t'apologize about.

[punchbulba]

[He still kept his eyes away from Vinnie. Not like he made a ton of eye contact when he wasn't upset, though...]

I don't want to talk about it right now.

[Truthfully, he didn't want to talk about it ever. But he really couldn't stand being looked at while he was... in Bulba's body. Augh.]

[punchtheflowers]

If it were up t'you, M, we'd never talk about it.

[Yes he knew you. He knew you. And he was having none of this. Even if it was super weird talking to... uh, Bulba's body.]

You need t'get some sun. You're gonna starve if you don't.

[punchbulba]

I don't want to go out.

[He had been feeling pretty crappy, but he attributed it to the whole heartswap thing rather than anything to do with getting sun. Even though Bulba had warned him.

He really didn't feel like getting up. He felt so incredibly heavy and terrible. Conflicting feelings about Vinnie being in his room, and generally hating life. Getting up and leaving the comfort of his dorm sounded like the most terrible idea of all time.]

[punchtheflowers]

[Vinnie approached Marie, but stopped at the edge of his brother's personal bubble. The worry was clear in his voice.]

M, it's not like bein' a Bulbasaur. You need a lot more sunlight once you have leaves.

I promise you'll feel better once you're outside. Please...?

[punchbulba]

[Bitch, moan, resist. That's what he wanted to do, anyway.

Marie's personal bubble might've been a smidge bigger than Vinnie remembered it being. His posture tensed even more when his brother got closer.]

... Fine. Only for a little bit.

[Ugh. Why did he feel like crying again?]

[punchtheflowers]

[Alas. Vinnie tried to smile in an encouraging manner as he waited for Marie to stand up and follow him. Fortunately the afternoon was still young, and there was plenty of sun to be had even with the still early sunsets of winter.]

Thanks...