.[Hope Estheim - 0.0.3. Video]. What's evolution?!~ (Goldenrod)

[cursedwithpuns]

[Hope looks stunned.

He's just witnessed his little Surskit who was working so hard at training turn into this weird moth thing. He blinks with a smile on his face before turning the camera to the Masquerain flying around his head.]

I don't really know what happened. One minute we were training and then suddenly he went all white and changed into this thing.

[The Masquerain starts flapping, seemingly annoyed at being called a 'thing'. Hope blinks at him before laughing. That was definitely his Surskit.]

Lightning! Ven! See?

[He grins showing it again.]

Comments

[Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

When Snow comes back and we see him after he's been asleep for ages. Does that count?

[Hope is grinning.]

[Action]

[soggypastry]

[If she were the laugh out loud type, Lightning would have burst out laughing at that image. As it is, she takes a sip of her lemonade to avoid showing just how wide her grin really is.]

Considering he probably spent two months lost a cave the first time he was here, I think it does. Besides, he's probably got a reason for never taking that bandanna off.

[She'd swear under oath that he showers with the thing on, and probably wouldn't be lying.]

[Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

It's nice.

[He looks away dreamily, then realises that this comic is massively out of context now.]

It's nice to be here I mean. Not having to check behind me all the time. Not having to wait to hear the Psicom machines attacking. Only having to worry about the pokémon. And having pets with special powers is kinda cool too.

[Action]

[soggypastry]

[Lightning nods at that; she's still haunted by memories of the Cie'th, but they're fading faster and faster now. This place...it's changed them. For the better, she's sure.]

Yeah. I know what you mean. It's a nice break, for a while.

[A sigh, and she looks skyward. A break, a vacation, a respite...a sanctuary she hopes they never leave. Can it really become home?]

Re: [Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

[Yes. Because home is where the heart is.]

I'd be happy to stay here. No fighting... No uncertainty to whether people will be able to rebuild on Pulse.

[All the worries a 14 year old kid shouldn't have to worry about.]

[Action]

[soggypastry]

[And their hearts are here. That much is for certain.]

Right. The list of reasons to stay here is definitely a lot longer than the one to go, isn't it?

[It's more a rhetorical question than anything, that. She's glad that here the only worry he has is his team and probably how he's going to survive puberty without massive embarrassment. It's how it should be.]

[Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

[He nods.]

I really want to explore. Find some more Pokemon. I love the guys I have, but there are so many. I'd love to learn more about them.

[Action]

[soggypastry]

We've got time. Once the weather clears a little, we can get moving again.

[Because staying in Goldenrod won't get him that. There's only so much to explore and find in this city.]

Re: [Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

I know.

[Hope smiles.]

We just need everyone else to show up now.

[Action]

[soggypastry]

[Lightning smiles back at him, though there's a hint of sadness in it as well. That will fade with time, but for now...]

I'm going to need your help if Snow comes back. He's disappeared without saying goodbye twice already, and I'm not going to let him do it a third time.

[But Hope knows how Snow is, so he shouldn't be surprised that Lightning is asking for his help with this.]

[Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

Maybe we could make Snow-sized baby reigns then let Alexander hold them.

[Hope chuckles.]

But sure! I'll help you. One hundred per cent supervision for him.

[Action]

[soggypastry]

[Reins, huh? Hopefully they work better on Snow than they did on her Rapidash, but the idea is...tempting. So very tempting.

Still, for his offer of help, Hope is getting a smile from big sis. She sincerely appreciates it.]

Thanks, Hope. I mean that.

[Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

Hey.

[He hesitates just a little before continuing.]

I told you. In fact, I promised. I promised to try to look out for you too.

[Action]

[soggypastry]

[That draws her up short; it's been so long since that moment that she really had almost forgotten what he'd said that day. She'd promised to take care of him, to keep him safe, but she'd just about forgotten that he'd promised the same thing to her. Maybe because it's been so long, maybe because he vanished twice...it's hard to say. But hearing him say it again is enough to make her smile widely and not hide it this time, and she reaches out to ruffle his hair a little.]

I know you did. That doesn't mean I can't thank you for offering to help.

[Action]

[cursedwithpuns]

[He laughs. His hair fluffing about in it's fluffy way.]

I know.

[Action]

[soggypastry]

[Fluffy cotton ball hair. One of the many things about him that she kind of hopes never changes. He really wouldn't be Hope without it.]

So long as you know, we'll be fine. I'm sure of it.

[Make the impossible possible together and all that. Stuff she doesn't have to say because he knows it already.]