glaciates | THIRD REBELLION ❅ TEXT

[The silence lasts way too long for Isaac's liking. He's tempted to turn off the Gear, but it seems like Kimblee is thinking. He really doesn't like the idea that Kimblee could easily figure it out--]

[Oh never mind. Looks like he did. His whole brain is crying, after all.]

...N-no, I really don't think we need to.

[WHOLE BRAIN IS CRYING, OH GOD NOT AS PLANNED]

[That response tells him pretty much everything he needs to know, really.]

No, I think we do. I'm not angry, for hell's sake, but I'm not discussing this here.

[Isaac normally doesn't run. He panics though, and turns the Gear off immediately.]

[His surroundings are distinct enough if you're familiar with the surrounding area though, Kimblee. He's near the exit of Route 35 to the north. He'll be hiding in National Park, if you don't mind~ You totally won't be able to find him there, right?]

[...

>Photographic memory
>Spent far too long in that area hunting down a Venonat
>All those fucking bees

Yes, Kimblee knows the area well.

...you're also kind of well over six feet tall and Kimblee has a gigantic steelsnake that he pushes for all its worth when it comes to getting places. He's aware that he's going to have to explain himself to Archer later, but he doesn't exactly care right now; he's going to hunt you down, Isaac. Hunting people down is what he does.

He wasn't annoyed before. He is now.

Have a text, Isaac.]

You can either make this easy, or you can make this difficult. The main difference is that I'm going to be incredibly displeased if you choose to make it difficult.

[Let's see... easy-mode would involve letting Kimblee find him and then discussing this. Kimblee has figured this out. Hard-mode would be hiding. How much angrier could Kimblee get anyway?]

[...But to be perfectly blunt, he really doesn't want to do that. It will take awhile, but he'll eventually return the text.]

I'm in National Park. I'll wait for you there.

[And hate his entire life. You know, the usual.]

Good.

[...this is the most inconvenient thing, Isaac, but at the very least the place isn't terribly far if said tremendous steelsnake is utilized. At the same time, you're going to be hating your life for a few hours at the very least. But he isn't going to stand you up.

You had best do him the same courtesy and not bolt. Hell are you...]

[Oh he's considered it. In the meantime he'll be training that ice mask spirit animal of his. Beating up things in the wild is actually a pretty nice stress reliever!]

[...Still, he's not looking forward to this at all. You'll find him wandering around the park with the ice mask following him. Don't worry! He's still here!]

[...it's at times like this that he's pleased you're about a million feet tall. Prevents him from having to stalk around Bee Central for too long.]

...Isaac.

[By now he's managed to calm himself; his hands are shoved in his pockets, but his voice is incredibly casual. Perhaps a bit too much so, given the circumstances. But there's no point in coming across as angry right now; it'll just detract from whatever the hell the point of all this is.]

Oh come on, there aren't a ton of bees out here...! He's only knocked out a couple!]

[Isaac jumps a bit when he hears Kimblee and turns. He immediately moves to run a hand through his hair. The Cryogonal floats behind him, sizing Kimblee up curiously.]

...Hey.

[He's not sure what to say. He's not even sure what he can say at this point. Can they just dismiss it as something that never happened? He'd be perfectly fine with that, honest!]

[...as much as Kimblee would like that, if he's going to be perfectly honest about it, unresolved issues tend to not let him get any damn peace; he would rather not dwell on it any longer than he has to without even attempting to get some sort of closure on the issue.

However, for the time being he glances at the Cryogonal; that's an interesting one, really, and he headtilts at it for a moment before returning his attention to Isaac.]

I suppose I should apologize for my abruptness; this isn't anything I was going to discuss with Archer in the room.

[Isaac is trying not to orz quite as hard as he normally does, at least! They're going to attempt to be rational about this!]

[...This isn't going to last long at all.]

Ah, yeah, I can see why.

[Archer's kind of the most annoying thing he's ever had the displeasure of meeting.]

And... I'm sorry for hanging up on you like that.

[He's not going to offer a reason, but from the lack of eye contact, it should be fairly obvious that he'd rather not talk about it.]

...of course, Isaac.

[The accepting of that apology is a bit cold, but he doesn't seem too annoyed otherwise. You don't want to discuss it? Then fine. There are other things to deal with.]

How long has all this been going on?

[The question is punctuated with Kimblee slipping one of his hands from his pocket and offering a vague gesture at nothing in particular; he has his gloves on, as he always does in Johto. No point in doing otherwise, really.]

[Isaac folds his arms defensively. He doesn't like that tone, and he doesn't like where this conversation is headed. The Cryogonal floats closer, chiming softly beside him. He doesn't seem overly bothered by the fact that there's three feet of ice floating next to his head.]

...It's been awhile.

[The answer is curt. It's not meant to sound frustrated or angry, but it manages that anyway. He's not entirely sure how long it's been going on - that's the problem. He only recognized it recently but... He can't really think of any time when he actively didn't like Kimblee. Well, okay, the first few days in Ishval--]

[...But really, he couldn't have been interested in Kimblee for that long...!]

Oh?

[That's...interesting, isn't it.]

Define "awhile" for me, then.

[...The fact that he's actively fighting to keep his whole brain from crying should really say something, shouldn't it.]

I... I don't know. It's... been a long time? I don't know exactly when it started.

[That's not a lie at least!]

[...Isaac, you haven't even been here that long. That leaves Amestris, doesn't it? But the only time that Kimblee was on civil terms with you then was - ]

...ah.

[He doesn't seem terribly bothered by the realization; a bit unsure of what to do with it, but he can work with this.

Kinda.

...this trainwreck.]

And what do you hope to get out of this?

[The realization isn't as obvious as it was the first time, and Isaac is perfectly content to write it off as Kimblee believing that Isaac showed up here, started hanging out with Kimblee, and then randomly decided that he loved him. Or something. He's not going to bother thinking about it in-depth right now.]

What do I...?

[He stops there, headtilting. What does he want from this?]

I messaged Hughes - or tried to, at least - for advice. That's it. I didn't plan on telling you.

["Love" isn't even coming into consideration at this point. Attraction, perhaps. But love? Certainly not.]

That isn't the point - whatever you were planning on doing, I certainly know now, making it a valid question anyway.

Are you intending to leave this all as it is, or are you actively trying to pursue anything?

[...is there any response to this that isn't welp or orz? Or some hideous combination of both that sounds like "whores"?]

I... don't know.

[For the time being his whole brain will cry, however. What does he want from this? Now that Kimblee knows he's already three steps ahead of where he wants to be, and like hell if he has any idea where he thinks this will go.]

[...Admittedly he's fairly sure he knows where he wants it to go. Telling Kimblee is something else entirely, however. You'll just get that same expression you've been getting this entire time, then!]

...you don't know, or you're refusing to tell me?

[That's... not something he wants to answer. He does have an answer, of course, but... telling Kimblee is something else entirely. Isaac moves to pull at that one stray strand of hair, avoiding eye contact. He normally doesn't play with that strand of hair - it's obvious he's very flustered at the question.]

I... yeah, I'd... like something to come of this.

[WELP.]

[It's rare that Kimblee asks something with an actual direction in mind. He enjoys throwing wrenches in other people's plans, and he equally enjoys the round of speed chess that ensues when someone throws wrenches into his; he likes the challenge, you see.

...he really could have done without this one, however. He supposes he'd hoped Isaac would prefer to just ignore the matter altogether; he isn't entirely sure what to say to the fact that he doesn't. So, just. Have a lot of staring, Isaac.]

...Really.

[And that. You can have that, too.]

[He's not surprised at that expression or reply, but Isaac had been hoping for something else. No, he wasn't expecting Kimblee to agree or anything, but it would have been nice if Kimblee had at least looked calmer.]

...Yeah.

[Isaac folds his arms and the Cryogonal circles around to his other side, still staring at Kimblee.]

Look, I know it's stupid.

[...We're getting into tsun territory, Kimblee.]

[Why does everyone do that here?

But regardless, Kimblee takes a moment to compose himself before continuing; let's just talk our way through this, shall we?]

Love and intimate relationships aren't anything that I do, Isaac; you would be getting nothing out of it.

[Johto brings out the tsun, obviously.]

Yeah, I know that. You're different. It's not a bad thing.

[It's honestly never struck him as being a bad thing. Maybe he's just naive-- Okay yes, he's naive. Still, he doesn't mind it any.]

I don't mean to sound like I'm pressuring you or anything but... that wouldn't matter.

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