[attr="class","matias1"]

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"the one without sounds good, thank you."[break][break]

their familiarity with each other shows when he reaches for the caramel apple without hestiation. he chomps into it, enjoying the sweet treat with a smile.[break][break]

after a moment, he responds to her first question.[break][break]

"things have been going. work has been busy but that's nothing new. how are things on your end?"[break][break]

---

DESIREE BLOOMS

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"Arceus, I feel that- I'm glad you were able to get a break to come to the carnival, though! ♡" She'd smile, taking a tiny bite of the peanuts that coated the candy apple. Noticing all of the lights encompassing the duo, her eyes would wander ever so slightly as she'd ponder to herself the answer to his corresponding inquiry. Just how were things on her end? Surely she couldn't be as busy as Matias due to the differences in their fields, but it definitely felt like it.[break][break]

Adjusting her heart glasses to sit a bit further down on her nose, Desiree would continue to crunch at the outer shell. "Things have been great, I just released my new album and all ♡," her golden optics would wonder once more, delving into the deeper retrospections tucked away in her mind as of late, ".. though, something has kinda been not making sense to me."[break][break]

Pausing with her words in an attempt to stitch together just what she would say about it, the pinkette was inching closer to being at a loss. She did not understand anything about the Ultra Deep Sea other than the fact that it was a seemingly magical yet unnerving place to be, dangerous in almost every way possible. Sure, she had been down to the deepest parts twice now, once with no intention of doing so.. but she was still blissfully ignorant to the details, so much so that she didn't even know that it had a name. Curiosity about the lands she had traveled to was inevitable, just as strong as the little girl's curiosity across the bend on whether or not she would be successful in the magikarp fishing game.[break][break]

"I've traveled through rifts to a strange place, what, twice now? ♡ It makes no sense, it's like something straight out of a cosmic horror novel with crystals and flesh. Do you know what that place is called? And why it exists?" Maybe she was in over her head, maybe it was all classified- but it was something she wished to know, and she hoped Matias at least had one answer.

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[attr="class","matias1"]

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before their conversation takes an inevitable dip to darker territories, he offers her his half of the apple, wanting to share.[break][break]

"i think you're talking about the rift in dewford? ultra deep sea is what we're referring to it as, but i'm not sure if it has an actual name."[break][break]

he pauses.[break][break]

"these rifts are dangerous, des. why are you traveling through them?"[break][break]

---

DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","matias3"][attr="class","rouxcredit"]♠

[attr="class","body"]

"Ultra Deep Sea? But that name sounds so pretty, like with loads of coral and aquatic pokemon," Looking at him with a curious demeanor, her eyebrow would raise. "I can confidently say that Ultra Deep Sea is a marine biologist's worst nightmare. If anything, it should be called the trenches."[break][break]

Knowing what the league was referring to the otherworldly mystic zone is, she'd find a bit of solace in that- though her eyes would look towards the ground when Matias expressed his concerns. Desiree wanted nothing more than to prove to herself that she was valid in her endeavors, and after her first dip into the unknown, she somehow felt more established as a trainer than before. Yes, she was aware of the dangers. But there were dangers present in the world as is, such as the everlasting gift her father had etched into her skin and bone before his demise. A stray golden ring from the dugtrio ring-toss game would roll and smack her heel, clinging about before taking its rest.[break][break]

Meeting her golden gaze with his crimson, she'd take a cigarette and light it, sticking it in between her lips. "The first time was an accident, but the second? Matias, did curiosity beam through your mind the first time you saw a magical shiny portal into another realm?" She'd pause, taking a long drag of the strawberry-flavored cigarette.[break][break]

"I couldn't help it, honestly. It's still so surreal to me, even with the dangers that lurk on the other side."

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"i'm afraid curiosity isn't a strong enough reason for me to endanger my life."[break][break]

he's lying. it definitely is and he's already proven as such when he killed Melody Miro's relicanth hoping it would activate a portal. which it did, of course.[break][break]

reaching down low to pick up the golden ring, he tosses it back over to the dugtrio station.[break][break]

"people have died in those rifts, as i'm sure you've heard, and the last thing i want is for you to suffer the same fate."[break][break]

---

DESIREE BLOOMS

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"That's sweet of you, Matias, really really sweet. ♡ But people die outside of those rifts too, quite a lot." The golden spark in her eyes would drift toward the cement, resonating with the falling ash from the cigarette. "I've been close before, but the two trips I've taken there haven't got that close at all."[break][break]

Desiree could not recall if she had written to Matias about the events that unfolded prompting her to move to Hoenn in the first place, but as the two would advance further down the carnival path, she could only wonder. Life was ultimately a fleeting sensation, even if it felt like forever; it was forever until the very end, but she'd already once acknowledged hers. On that hospital bed at the beginning of June, she'd already accepted death, despite the gift of being able to keep living having been granted to her afterward.[break][break]

Nearing a rather empty attraction, a beanbag tossing game, the pinkette would pick up one of the soft stuffed cloths and give a lil' underhand throw in an attempt to land it in the hole. Though, it would simply slide off the platform and into a collection bin.[break][break]

Sighing and exhaling the tobacco smoke, she'd turn towards Matias and look into his crimson eyes, a blush forming on her cheeks. "You're right, I should probably stop going, and I will." Her soft voice would trail outward with the remnant of grayscale haze, cloaked in a botanical garden of lies.[break][break]

She didn't have the gall to let him know that she no longer feared death due to her nearly unsuccessful recovery from her attempted murder. Hoenn may have been her second chance, her second life, but she was more than willing to live life off of the edge instead of beside it if it meant broadening her once dim-lit horizons. Even if danger would await her behind those magnificent tears into differing realms, it was like a fairytale come to life, able to drench discordance into beautiful galaxies when she would think back upon them.[break][break]

Taking her cigarette out of her lips and resting it within her fingers, Desiree would give a big smile and close her eyes, clasping her hands together. "Wanna do the bumper cars? ♡" She'd ask with a somewhat forced demeanor, attempting to jab the previous topic like a nail through a wall. This musician was in far over her head.[break][break]

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all it takes is one mistake, is what he wants to say but decides against it. it sounds like desiree is set on continuing to explore, so the best he can do is support her. and as one of hoenn's elite four, what better way is there than to help train her?[break][break]

the thought lingers as they move on to the bumper cars. he climbs into one, waiting until they start the round.[break][break]

"i'll get you!"[break][break]

he promises as the ride begins.[break][break]

---

DESIREE BLOOMS

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Desiree was quite relieved that Matias's silence marked the cessation of the topic, and with that, the lack of being able to point out her lie; she was not fond of bending the truth in her favor, but with his conviction and seemingly strong feelings of his wish for her not to travel through the rifts, she felt there was no other way to not let the carnival turn sour. Putting the remnant of her half-smoked cigarette into a big potted planter, the two would be off into the bumper cars' zone.[break][break]

The pressure in her chest, the anxiety of it all, thankfully faded when he expressed his want to slam into her car. "Not if I get you first~! ♡" She'd exclaim, turning her wheel and shooting at his bumper car with full force. Damn, had it been a while since Desiree was in one of these rapid-whipping automotives designed to collide, but she was all for the friendly competition with nothing to lose.[break][break]

Thudding her glistening sky-blue appendage against her hat, the lone Hatterene would cheer on the fairy-type trainer behind the divider that separated the track and the sidelines.

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