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"Jayden, you fucking prick." Marza muttered, thumbing off her phone after realizing there were additional funds in her account. She'd told him no. Rich asshole. Maybe the sentiment was nice, but she wasn't particularly fond of funeral donations. Certainly not when her father was involved. It shouldn't have been like this, she shouldn't be fucking bothered. Still it simmered under her skin like an ugly itch, this unsatisfied feeling of utter failure. Among other feelings she didn't have the time or capability to diagnose.
[break][break]
Her father had been cold, cruel. All wiry wolf-grey hair, steel eyes, and hard hands. That look of constant disappointment. That "eat your young" mentality. She hated him, but it was more complicated than that and now he was gone. She had no time left to prove herself, that fucking hourglass was out of sand.
[break][break]
The boat was smoke-free, which was a fucking goddamn travesty, really.
[break][break]
She might have been able to use Kuru, but the distance would have been too far; eventually, the buzzard would have gotten hungry and eaten the first food source, aka her. Sootopolis lingered in the distance, a hazy shadow that eventually solidified, cut out of the background like the hard edge of a knife. She spied jayden cross pretty quickly. "Cross, I thought I told you not to waste your time or money."

[attr="class","bottom"]jayden cross [break]

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] it had been a courtesy.

[break][break] both the gift he'd given to her and her reply. or at least, as much as he assumed. it was the funds of the organization that had been sent to her account, though jayden had thrown in a little bit extra. it was for the same reason that he'd been the one to pick the beast up from the boat.

[break][break] though he was sure that fern delaney would have preferred such a transaction themselves, jayden knew that they were busy at the moment. and if there was anything that he could do to ease the other's burden, he would do it. without question.

[break][break] when marza appears on the shore, she would see the rocket admin standing there across from her just as she'd left them for her business in unova. the same, unfeeling, inexpressive face that he was so popularly known for. the apatheticness that was jayden cross.

[break][break] but when jayden stared across the wooden dock, as the other inhabitants peeled off the boat, it was different. something in him shifted at the sight of the bitter, hard-edged gaze of their beast. as if mountains were moved at seeing her in person. a memory flashed by his mind's eye — the sight of a cocky-grinned child flashing up at him, with eyes just like his.

[break][break] 'what was that?'

[break][break] "it's not my money," he replied instead, blinking away the memory. "it's the organization's." not entirely a lie. once she arrived, he stepped towards her with an offer to carry at least one of her things.

[break][break] "how was your trip?"

[break]

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

[attr="class","tagline"] sootopolis city, post-gg

[break]

Marza Volchitsa [break]
post goodbye galar (repeat)

[break]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

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Maybe she was being too harsh. Whatever she was going through wasn’t Jayden’s fault. She couldn’t understand why he was even there. At some point in her time with Rocket, people had begun to fill the empty spaces of her life and, for once, she didn’t hate it. It wasn’t a family, but she also didn’t know what that word meant.
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“Shit.” She muttered simply. “Bastard was put in the ground, should have cremated him.” Then, she could throw him in the garbage and be done with this. Instead he had a plot with a headstone with some fake identity. A man that never existed the extent of his life. [break][break]
She wanted to say more, to betray the unrest that lived beneath her skin like a tempest. That she was angry, but not at her father but at herself. There she was, finally without his oversight and he existed like a dark cloud over her. She didn’t know what to feel, it was infuriating.
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“Anything happen while I was away?”

[attr="class","bottom"]jayden cross [break]

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] jayden blinked sympathetically back at her.

[break][break] he could understand complicated relationships with family more than most people, especially when it came to things like funerals. he also knew that there was not much he could say to make the moment easier, so he didn't.

[break][break] he led her down the path away from the shore.

[break][break] "plenty," he said simply, reaching into his jacket to pull out a manilla folder which he then offered to her. the contents of it gave a bullet point list of all the events that had transpired since her departure, the most important of which seemed to be the results of that ancient tomb raid that they were all still recovering from.

[break][break] "also, there have been more defectors as of late." his gaze glinted. "we need our beasts back."

[break][break] 'we need you back, marza.'

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[attr="class","oocnotes"]

[attr="class","tagline"] sootopolis city, post-gg

[break]

Marza Volchitsa [break]
post goodbye galar (repeat)

[break]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

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"Don't give me that look, Cross." She grumbled, though her voice was less aggitated and more tired. The last person she wanted grievance and pity from was jayden cross. Just because they were something akin to friends didn't mean she was looking for a therapist out of it. Though she was hesitant to call anyone her friend. It felt like a waste of time and effort, a temporary thing. This strange home she'd found in Rocket was illusory and she needed to remember that before she was cut down for it.
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"Of course there are." She muttered, examining the contents. There had never been a time she thought to leave, but there had also never been an option. It'd be like cutting the wings off a corviknight, difficult and noisy.
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"Well let's kick their asses back into shape then, yeah?"

[attr="class","bottom"]jayden cross [break]