with rocket supposedly vanquished, the hoenn region now faces incredible dangers spawned by the energies of ultra beast invasion.
despite the thin veil of peace, the public still faces unease.
aggressive pokemon wander the wilderness, some mutated into their mega evolved forms.
the scars of mossdeep's ultra beast invasion remain fresh. further still, legendary pokemon still appoint avatars, causing more alarm than awe.
in the meantime, a reformed rocket attempts to poison the ground water of hoenn's society in secretive fashions. what unseen threats still slither in the dark?
we're into the holiday season! hoenn's snowed in with new events (hoennian holidays) and more. crazy to think it's december again. with
the introduction of galarian pokemon, learnsets, abilities and "new megas", we've been quite busy haven't we?
thank you to the community for being so amazing and for being patient with staff as we busily work for your enjoyment! stay warm, folks!
hoenn is inspired by, but not associated with nintendo's pokemon franchise. the current skin was created by pharaoh leap using font icons primarily from ion icons and fonts from google fonts. in particular, we would like to thank kumachan and leap for their additional templates (staff temp, custom pc). lastly, custom templates like the gachapon, garden/swarm, and random event template were coded by ulla.
characters, with the exception of canons from the manga, belong to the members who write them, and all posts and templates on site are credited to their respective authors and artists. we claim nothing that is not ours.
It's early on Sunday morning and Rhian isn't in her bed.
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Strange. Very strange.
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A quick search through the apartment further reveals she's not in the studio, the balcony, the laundry room or the living room. Leo finds her at last in the kitchen, hair tied up in one long ponytail and apron on. Two bowls sit on the counter in front of her while she checks the tablet that her rotom seems to have possessed. Again.
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If the rotom continued to take over their appliances as often as it was doing lately, he would go crazy. No privacy in the house anymore. Leonardo sighs. At least it reduced their bill this month.
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He steps inside the kitchen and glances at the counter from over her shoulder.
Post by Rhian McArthur on Mar 1, 2019 15:03:35 GMT
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rhian can prepare
lunch boxes alright, but sweets are a vastly different deal. bowls and salads are very easy to make — chop the ingredients, boil them depending on the ingredient in question, add some spices, mix. usually took fifteen, twenty minutes max, depending on what they felt like eating that day.
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now, chocolates were something she had a bit of experience making. once. three years ago for a highschool senior leo. this time, though, she'd picked a more complex recipe to try, and rhian honestly couldn't make head or tail of it.
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if the fact their oven was still brand new and never before touched isn't any indicator of how limited her scope at cooking is, she's not sure what would be.
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rhian is balancing two cups in her hands when she hears leo come in. "good morning, darling," she greets with a beaming smile, turning from staring intently at the screen her rotom was showing her to face him. then, out of reflex, she puckers her lips for their obligatory good morning kiss.
She avoids his question and acts like her waking up at seven on a Sunday is the most common thing in the world, which makes him even more suspicious. Leonardo squints but leans down for the kiss anyway.
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"Morning."
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Seeing as he wouldn't be getting any answers directly from his girlfriend's mouth, Leonardo sets out to gather as much information as he can from everything else in the kitchen. Rhian's questions add to the feeling Leo has that she's hiding something.
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"Did you? You're up even earlier than usual today."
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On her tablet's screen, a video is paused. It shows melted chocolate on a bowl and not much more, but that's enough of a clue. Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and chocolates are obviously a big part of it.
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Leonardo's eyes light up. This would be his first Valentine's chocolate from her as an official couple. However, something about this scenario alarms him.
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"Why are you using so many ingredients? You know I like plain chocolate best."
Post by Rhian McArthur on Mar 16, 2019 0:31:53 GMT
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she freezes
at leo's last comment. she indeed knows he likes his chocolate plain. long ago now, when she asked him which of all the chocolates he'd received for valentine's he liked the most on his senior year of highschool, his answer had been fulminating.
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rhian had opted for dark chocolate couverture filled with dry strawberries then, thinking for sure that someone as cool as him only ate dark chocolate. she was proved wrong, of course.
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"i know, but i just- i just wanted to try something a little more fancy," she answers carefully, each word a landmine. it's not lying if she's only hiding a piece of the truth, right?
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"besides!" she starts again, the thought of even lying to him at all making her increasingly nervous, "dates and pistachios are supposed to be healthy! high in antioxidants! we should be eating more of them!"
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there was something on the websites she'd checked mentioning one of them helped lose fat. she's not sure which exactly, but she's not lying about this.
Leonardo nods at Rhian's explanation. His suspicions haven't mellowed at all, but it's good to know she's looking out for their collective health as always. She is such a good girl. He'd play along for now.
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"You're right. We should be incorporating pistachios into our diet so you stop growing fatty."
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A grin makes its way to his face as he places his chin on top of her head.
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Cuddling would be ten times more comfortable in bed, but Leonardo supposes it's not too bad like this either. Better than not having her close, by far.
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"Want me to help?"
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His index finger taps on the tablet's screen to replay the video tutorial she'd been watching from the beginning. While watching every step of the recipe and mentally taking note of them, he wraps his arms around her waist.
Post by Rhian McArthur on Mar 16, 2019 15:50:27 GMT
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oh, so it was
pistachios then. makes sense. rhian had never been the one with the best memory, so trust leo to remember such a detail for her. wait a moment—did he just call her a fatty?!
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"you're lucky my hands are busy right now," she pouts. rhian isn't really fat, but leo liked teasing her about it because of how much she loves eating sweets. could he blame her, though? they tasted so good.
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and she always balances both their diets with nutritious meals anyways!
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one cup is put down on the table, while the other she raises to eye level to better inspect its contents. she squints and shakes it a little and then puts this cup down too.
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"you're smart so you must know. how many of these almonds do you think make two hundred grams?"
He grins. Teasing her never grew old or any less satisfying. Each time she reacts with as much emotion as if she had never heard the words before. It's adorable.
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The sound of the video tutorial fades down when Rhian speaks. But it's not by some sort of magic trick or a play on infatuation. The rotom residing within is the one lowering the volume when either of them speaks.
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"Why don't you just use the electronic scale?"
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At this, Leo leaves the comfort of Rhian's warmth and moves towards one of the cabinets far to the right. The scale is kept in its box, which he quickly removes and presents to her.
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"I didn't buy this to rust away in that cabinet."
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After making some space in the counter, it's placed in front of them. Since the scale works on batteries, it doesn't need to be connected to an electrical current or anything.
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An empty cup goes on top of the scale. He pushes the reset button.
Post by Rhian McArthur on Mar 16, 2019 19:21:21 GMT
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amazing
. despite the scale looking brand new, leo manages to operate it as if he'd done it a thousand times. or maybe the steps are just so simple that it would take someone really technologically challenged to not figure it out.
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regardless, rhian is happy. that was the largest of her concerns and, as you can see, she'd never been all that good at conversions.
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"whaaat? since when do we have this magical piece of electronics?"
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rhian ogles the metallic platform. the almonds are dropped on the recipient one by one until the screen marks two hundred— two hundred and one. they go into the mixer.
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the pistachios are next. "here," rhian picks up the cup and offers a handful of the green seeds to leo before following the same process and dumping them with the almonds. dates, maple syrup, tahini and cocoa powder are mixed in while she prepares the table for the hands-on part.
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"what shape should we make them?" she ponders aloud.
"What are you acting so surprised for? Aren't you a mechatronics major?"
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To be fair, the cabinet in question is pretty high up, so he supposes Rhian wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't mentioned it or shown her himself. In fact it's probably one of the appliances he bought prior to her moving in.
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She doesn't seem to need much help besides the scale, so Leonardo leans on the fridge as she works. He's munching on some pistachios when Rhian asks about the shape of the chocolates.
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"Hearts, obviously."
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What an odd question to make. His Valentine's chocolates had to be heart-shaped. That way he could bring them to the lab and casually eat them in front of his colleagues while they died of envy. Nevermind that the taste would probably be weird, he got to exercise his bragging rights for at least one day every year.
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"So once you're done, do I get to taste the chocolates or are you making me wait til Valentine's proper?"
Post by Rhian McArthur on Mar 16, 2019 20:03:01 GMT
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she may be
studying mechatronics engineering, but that has nothing to do with her knowledge of kitchen appliances. what did leo think that her classes consisted of? baking lessons at the local lab?
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having also attended lilycove university, leo probably knew about the community kitchens in campus, but rhian's time in their alma mater was not spent there despite what the young man thought.
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"my studies have nothing to do with this," she declares, unwrapping a long sheet of parchment paper. once it's lined neatly on the table, she sets off to look for some chocolate molds.
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her next words are a careless mistake. "hearts? are you sure that'll be fine?"
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oh no, she's about to get caught.
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"u-um. sure, you can have a taste! but only a taste, 'kay? these may have higher nutritious value, but they're still chocolates."
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the nervous laughter at the end doesn't help. she gives in. "i'm actually making these for mr. lane and everyone else at the research facility."
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she looks down, feeling guilty about keeping that information from him for this long. rhian should have just told leo she was making chocolates for Lucas Lane and cait alfric straight away.
Leonardo thought he would be the one instilling this feeling in others. He was already picturing how he'd conveniently find a box prettily tied up on his desk on the fourteenth. When asked, he'd vaguely answer that his wife sent them to him and ignore further questions.
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Instead, he's getting a spoonful of his own medicine. It tastes bitter. He doesn't like it.
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"Oh?"
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Mild surprise doesn't begin to reflect what he's feeling. It's what his countenance shows though.
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Yes, it's a good plan. He'd contain the green monster within for a few minutes, so that his retreat doesn't seem like a, well, retreat. Then he'd excuse himself from the kitchen and go take all his anger out on a training session with his Pokémon.
Post by Rhian McArthur on Mar 16, 2019 22:38:24 GMT
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when no
angry outbursts or screams come, rhian braves herself to venture a quick peek at leo's face. he's surprisingly calm. light-colored eyelashes blink a couple times to make sure her brain's not making this up. he's really... not angry with her?
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rhian realizes she's only seen him mad once, and that day she'd watched her cousin come home with a bruised eye and a broken nose.
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her hands instinctively reach for her nose. she really likes her nose.
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she lowers them. "you're getting your own chocolate, of course!" for anyone to even think leo wouldn't be getting valentine's chocolates from his loving girlfriend, they'd have to be delusional. "fifty percent cacao, just how you like it."
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the heart-shaped mold is put aside. rhian approaches. she wraps leo in a tight hug, and in that deadly sweet grip, her lips brush against his cheek. a gentle kiss, as gentle as the touch of a butterfly. it's a romantic moment ruined only if you decide to look at her tiptoeing feet.
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burrowing her face in his chest, rhian adds in a whisper, "are you mad at me?"
The tension, the insecurity, the rage. It all fades away with one gesture.
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Maybe she's bewitched him. Maybe there was something on the pistachios, some pheromones that make him go crazy over the girl before him. Maybe the spell was put on him years ago when she gave him her first batch of chocolates and that's why he doesn't care. Leo grabs her left hand and raises it to his mouth.
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"How could I be?"
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Hand kissing is a gesture of respect, of politeness, of admiration. Over the years it came to become impersonal. Overused. When he kisses the knuckles on the back of her hand now, there's nothing but adoration in his eyes.
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Leonardo doesn't have to watch over her anymore.
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"I'll go check on the zorua, sweetheart. Bring us some chocolate later?"
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He excuses himself from the kitchen just as planned. However, instead of taking out his anger, he's off to play with the shiny zorua that had come to be their house guardian and smile to himself whenever he thinks of his girlfriend.
Post by Rhian McArthur on Mar 17, 2019 1:04:07 GMT
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it feels like
a dream. like she and leo have been hand-picked by a power greater than either of them and then placed in the watercolor pages of a fairy tale book, where she is the bashful princess and he the charming prince.
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the movie moment lasts only a few seconds, but rhian would be feeling like the protagonist of her own fantasy romance for way longer.
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"wait— you only get to eat the tahini-covered ones until thursday though!"
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he's already gone.
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rhian looks back at her cooking station and sighs. leo most likely fled from helping her clean up more than anything else. she opens the microwave to start melting leo's chocolate.
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the molds wait for her beside the mixer, and after that she still needs to prepare the cocoa powder until it reaches a deep red that could be sprinkled on top of the chocolate cover. not to mention the miniature marshmallows to adorn the batch made exclusively for leo.
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somehow, leo had managed to help her and still slow down her progress. she has a long day ahead of her. but that's alright; reminiscing the short moment shared in this kitchen makes her work more happily.
