pipers_son | 019 // Video

And a good mornin' ta everyone~.

[There's Joker, smiling like usual and with his hair still dark. He's a bit more done up than he was the last time he turned on his Pokegear.]

So! First off, a bit a business for anyone lookin' for work. As always, the circus is always open ta folks who'd like ta run stalls or participate in any a the acts. We could always use folks who know their way around all this fancy tech or who can patch folks up just in case. However! This is for the future.

Ta be exact, October. Our good friend Jack has left the haunted house in the care of Jims and me, but two folks does not a haunted house make! So if yer interested in that sorta work, let me know, and we can see how things are come October!

Secondly, bit more personal, but beyond breedin', any recommondations for where ta fish for good water types and the like?

Think that's- [He breaks off as a Zoroark paw reaches from off screen and taps his shoulder.] Ah, before I forget. My Invidia has a problem he'd like some outside opinions on. Don't know what it is, he ain't keen on tellin' me just yet. Let me know if ya would like ta have a chat with 'im.

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It's... really complicated. I don't... want to get you down with everything.

[He shouldn't be depressing everyone with this stuff.]

I wouldn't mind. I got enough cheer ta keep the both of us afloat, ha!

[... Well, if they're going to go this route... he privates the conversation.]

It's... have I told you about how we've been fighting?

Don't think ya 'ave, no.

R... right. So I think I've told you that I can turn into animals at home. We only got that power to fight against... creatures from another world. It...

... The war lasted for three years. For all but... a few months, really... it was basically just the six of us against an invading army. It... we were all teenagers, or the equivalent of a teenager in Ax's case.

It was... I think the hardest thing imaginable for any of us, but we kept going, because if we didn't try then humanity would be enslaved by these creatures.

But... but at the end... our last battle... the person who I -

[He breaks off for a second, looking offscreen and pressing a fist against his lips while he composes himself. His voice is still shaky when he speaks again, tears threatening to fall again.]

The person I cared about the most in the world... she... she died. I know... I know she was sent on that... part of the mission because she would get the job done, but I... I just... the world without her is just...

[He sniffs and wipes his face with his sleeve.]

They let me take her ashes. I don't... know what I'm going to do with them at home, but I... I know I'm going to probably end up just... living somewhere away from people. I don't know if I can face them anymore. I could... I could morph human and stay that way but I'd... miss the sky. And I don't think - life as a hawk is easier to deal with...

[Joker keeps quiet the entire time Tobias talks, his face losing the usual cheer that is so often seen on it. Instead, it's a painfully honest look of somberness and sympathy.]

[Oh, doesn't he know that kind of roughness.]

[When Tobias winds down, he finally speaks up.]

Ya ain't the only young lad forced inta a war, and it's never a kind thing when it happens. If the world were kinder, it'd keep the young outta such things, and if it had a ounce a pity, it'd at least keep their loved ones from the fray.

Wish I could offer ya more than just my shoulder.

[He's trying not to cry, because Joker's words hit home so much. Even if he's known for a while that there was probably no way for him to avoid this, and that his life was better for a while even with the fighting since he was away from his aunt and uncle, but...]

[But to have it end like that just feels like any happiness has been ripped away.]

It's... well. You kind of have. The circus is... at least training keeps me busy, and I know I have a place where I can stay out of the rain. And everyone there is really nice, and... it helps. You've made a safe place for a lot of people, and it helps.

Ha... Glad ta hear it. [His grin is a little sheepish.] That's what the circus is for, after all.

... Well, you did a good job with it.

[He manages a little bit of a smile at him.]

Ha! I suppose I'll just have ta accept that compliment, won't I?

Good. You're just that kind of person to me, and probably to a lot of other people.

[He's actually starting to get sort of embarrassed, in that nice way. Providing a home for people is the highest sort of praise he can be given.]

Can only hope that's true. Ya lose a lotta folks around here.

Yeah, but... I dunno. It's a little easier to try to pick yourself up again here. There's just something about this place.

Feels like you'll always have a second chance?

Pretty much. And there's so many different people here... honestly it's a little overwhelming. I really only talked to a handful of people for three years. But there's a lot more people here who are a lot more forgiving of... everything, really.

Well... People go through a lot. Maybe some folks understand situations like yers better than ya think. No leg ta stand on for judgin', as it were.

Yeah. ... It's nice. It's good to have a place like that.

We're lucky that, even if it's for a short while, we get ta be in that kinda place.

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