ＶＩＤＥＯ ⁄ ＮＥＷ ＢＡＲＫ ＴＯＷＮ。

[throatwash]

( route's newest arrival isn't pleased, but for all the plethora of reactions one can experience in a new world... armin arlert is rather calm. he crouches at a water's edge, arm folded over his knees. his hair is wet, appearing longer than usual, and his chin is scraped raw. if someone mistakes him for a girl... well, it wouldn't be the first time. he sighs. )

How would you train a weak, ah, Pokémon? ( foreign, the question in the word itself. ) I understand they learn through battle, but can they learn through... Mm, exercises? ( the answer seems obvious, to be honest, but armin won't assume in the given circumstances. he doesn't want to waste the time, either, and this is an important step to integrating himself into this world. ) I think it would be more beneficial than risking serious injury or worse...

( — a splash of water, raining droplets over the screen. armin lowers the gear, revealing an upside picture of... a fucking magikarp. he smiles, though no one can see. softer, ) Don't worry. I use to be weak, too.

Comments

video;

[bertall]

...Armin, I'm halfway across the region talking to you over a chunk of plastic from a hotel room.

_{[Not to mention the oversized pet fish. Bertolt hasn't been around them enough out of respect to Walter's fear of fish, but things like that definitely weren't normal back home.]}

How is this place not weird to you?

_{[Granted now that he knows about other worlds, he'll be one of the first to admit that their home is a little on the weird side. Hell on earth, really. This place took time to adjust to - giant moths, tiny chunks of plastic that could be used to communicate to people halfway across the world, people from other worlds... Even the doors that open automatically at PokeMarts.]}

video;

[throatwash]

It is. But our home is weird, too. I think it's normal for us to assume some things because... It isn't normal for humans to live behind walls. ( relative, he supposes. but the evidence is overwhelming. ) Or to die fighting giant monsters.

video;

[bertall]

...Just wait until you start seeing things that aren't fish.

_{[This place has giant flying lizards, Armin.]}

And, uh... I've seen titans here once before. _{[Those days had been pretty weird after he got used to life here, but fortunately no one was hurt. It's surprisingly easy to out-maneuver one in Ilex Forest.]}

video;

[throatwash]

( UR A GIANT FLYING LIZARD. armin doesn't like this conversation. )

Where?

video;

[bertall]

It's not here anymore. I took care of it before it found one of the cities. ...I've got people I want to protect here, Armin.

video;

[throatwash]

( good, he thinks. this world might be convenient for him, but that means bertolt has more to lose than usual, too. that's exploitable. even if the likeliest solution, at the moment, is a truce. what can three soldiers do alone, after all? and in such a strange world... besides, bertolt is more valuable alive. )

What about Annie?

( "is she here?" )

video;

[bertall]

_{[He's glad he can't see the way his fingers tighten around his 'gear, nor the way his Trapinch peers up at him with a scrap of his jeans in its mouth. Something just made his old trainer's friend upset!]}

...What's it to you?

_{[Why do you care? Bertolt won't tell him that there is an Annie here, but not the Annie they know. No, it's just the Feraligatr that Bertolt named after her.]}

video;

[throatwash]

Wouldn't you want to know if she and Reiner were here?

( the reasons being different but tomato, tomato. )

video;

[bertall]

I'm not the one who'd hurt them. ...Either way, I'd know if they were here. Reiner used to be here but he vanished a couple months ago.

video;

[throatwash]

Bertolt... ( you were always too careful. ) I'm not in a position to do that. You have a lot of power in this situation. The most I can do is ask we coexist in this place, but it isn't my call.

Re: video;

[bertall]

I don't have any power here, Armin. I'm human, just like you and everyone else here.

_{[Granted there have been some weird circumstances where he actually gets certain things back, but they never stick around.]}

...I've had a rough couple of months besides. I'm not looking to start anything.

video;

[throatwash]

( that isn't what he meant, but thanks for the information, bert. :|b )

— and Corporal Levi? Has he talked to you?

video;

[bertall]

_{[Hey, when death isn't a thing here there's no real point in trying to act threatening anyway.]}

Once or twice.

video;

[throatwash]

What did he say?

( if he said much... the corporal isn't stupid, make no mistake, but he isn't one for stratagem, either. and the politics of people like this? what a nightmare. still, this is armin's superior officer. )

video;

[bertall]

About what?

_{[Really, he's the one who approached Levi first. The first was just to... internally panic on his arrival.]}

video;

[throatwash]

Well, if he would do something... ( or... ) Or if he thinks nonviolence is our best option.

IGNORE THAT JOURNAL I was on the wrong one

[bertall]

You'll have to ask him yourself.

_{[Because he actually never thought to ask, whoops.]}

wow bert v musical

[throatwash]

He won't. ( if the corporal had such intentions, bertolt would know. armin is certain. ) That's good. I don't want to be friends, but... I don't want to fight, either. Let's try to get along.