smashacademy | 12th bloom; renewal

[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.))

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[Just a day or two ago, Bulba had insisted the same thing. It felt like it had come from the wrong person, and Marie had a difficult time accepting the good-natured comment coming from him.

When Vinnie said it, Marie... well, he sobbed. Quietly this time, but thankfully it lacked the pathetic, desperate quality of the previous one. He was comforted. For the first time in a long while, Marie wasn't angry with his brother.]

I missed you.

[He wasn't just talking about while Vinnie was away...]

I missed you too.

[Vinnie craned his head to nuzzle Marie's cheek encouragingly. He'd spent too long trying to cut himself off from everyone in pursuit of what he thought were his obligations, what he had mistakenly called strength.

Ever since his injury, the Venusaur had felt diminished in every way possible, and frightened. But trying to hide his vulnerabilities only managed to distance himself from the people who made him whole. It was agonizing. He wasn't healing.

The idea seemed outrageous, now. How could he ever have removed himself from his family?]

I'm back now. I promise I won't leave again.

[Admittedly Marie wasn't usually the type to take promises too seriously, but he'd definitely hold Vinnie to this one. His crying was starting to make him uncomfortable and embarrassed, so he opted to nod instead of say anything in return.

It was weird, he thought, how quickly his anger dissipated. But it was hard to stay mad when he was so tired of it. He had spent so much time stewing and hating recently that it was getting exhausting. It was especially hard to stay mad when all he wanted was to stay in his brother's arms for the rest of his existence.

Although it would have been ideal if he was in his own body, and if he could stop crying. Neither of those seemed to be options, though. He'd just have to settle for what he got.]

[Even in a different body, Marie's tear ducts seemed to be an infinite resource. Alas that Ivysaurs weren't as suited to water as Squirtles were. Vinnie tried to wipe the tears from the younger Saur's face with the sleeve of his robe, but it wasn't doing much to stop the tide.]

Do you want me t'get some tissues? Anythin'?

[Bringing attention to Marie's tears wasn't necessarily the best idea. He sheepishly withdrew from Vinnie, cast his eyes away from him, and attempted to wipe his own tears away.]

I'll be okay.

Al'right.

[Vinnie paused, then leaned in to give one more quick nuzzle to Marie's cheek.]

I got a new satellite phone anyway, so even if I'm not near the city, you can still text me. Just in case.

[Embarrassed as he was, Marie still leaned into Vinnie's nuzzling. He made a lame attempt at cracking a smile, but still looked away.]

Heh. Just remember to bring it with you...

[Vinnie had a smile too - and a genuine one, in the face of this somewhat awkward moment.]

I still need to load my shit onto it. Max will probably throw a fit if I start texting during training though, ha...

Yeah, well... Whatever.

[At that point, Marie finally managed to stop crying. He looked back at Vinnie, although he didn't keep his forced smile up.]

[Vinnie shrugged. Yeah, he couldn't help it that he had to go back to working for Max, but back to business as usual came with the good and the bad.]

I'll still be 'round whenever you need me, okay?

Yeah.

[A "thank you" nearly left his lips, but he didn't really think it was deserved. To Marie, being part of their family meant always being available to one another, no matter what. He was thankful Vinnie would be there for him though, so he found a backwards way to express it...]

That'll be nice.

12th bloom; renewal

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this tag... took me too long to write /flops

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