...Letting him out here might’ve been a mistake, but hey- I guess we’ll just wait and see.[break][break]


Famous last words, honestly. Things like that were always said or thought in some way, shape, or form just moments before disaster, but honestly speaking, he’d already come all that way with the intent of spending at least some time to pay his respects, so letting a certain little Dragon-type of his run rampant only seemed like the lesser of all evils. Worst case scenario, he could just recall the little bastard back into his Pokeball, anyways. Easy solution.[break][break]



So, he sighed, watching the Tyrunt run around for just a little bit longer (and rustling in around what he could only hope was the grass afar) before turning back to a nearby grave. He eyed it and the engravings upon it curiously before closing his eyes and pressing his lips flatly upon hearing a somewhat concerning scrape, all before turning around and quickly pulling his Pokemon back from another grave.[break][break]


Of course he’d use Crunch on one of the stones.[break]
Of course.

DAPHNE STONE

☉

He took another sip.[break][break]

...At least I wasn’t right with my assumption, had been his first choice of thought as he directed his attention towards her; verdant voids matched by those of an azure brilliance as he took the speech offered towards him into proper account. For a small while longer did his fingers dance upon the round of the glass before him, cool and frosted to the touch, and with lingering specks and spots amidst the condense within the particular portions that his fingers had grazed upon. Within an idle manner, he eyed her for a little while longer as he leaned comfortably more upon his hand and arm. ...Then again, I guess I shouldn’t speak to soon…[break][break]

Another tap of the glass. Louder, that time, as if achieving some means of metaphorical peak prior to leaning back, once morel the pressure exuded upon the respective limb therefore relinquish (however momentarily) as he sought to fully release the handle of the drink within his midst, all the while. ”...Two for two. More of the former, really~,” he ambled on with naught short of a smaller, anticipating dancing upon his lips in tandem to the intonation within his voice. His lips pursed slightly as he glanced over towards the nearest screen, sparing it a cursory glance towards the time located within his corner prior to averting his attention back to her, once more. The smile that he wore perked slightly. ”Not opposed to the alternative, though, I guess~.”[break][break]

He eyed the glass that she held for but a moment before nodding towards it.[break][break]

”...Might be a bit hard to chat if you’re a few rounds too far in, though~.”

DAPHNE STONE

☉

...I don’t even wanna think about how far gone she is.[break][break]

A rather simple and short thought, yet one whose answer dwelled further within the depths of his mind whether he deigned to directly acknowledge as such or not. Inexperience within scenarios such as the given, however, had truthfully been nothing more than a similar falsity. Appearances had been something that he had always sought to keep within a higher degree, after all (more for his own, personal pride and stability, if anything), and thus, being approached as such hadn’t quite been much of a shock.[break][break]

Nevertheless, it still proved to be some degree of jarring whenever it did happen.[break][break]

After all, the approach of one had been far from guaranteed to be anything similar to the approach of another, with varying degrees of boisterous nature being something that he’d, unfortunately enough, had borne witness to more times within the past than he would’ve cared to admit. Still, however, there had always been something about the audacity and awkwardness of each and every encounter of similar ilk that he couldn’t help but find some minor light beneath. The woman before him spoke her part, and the woman before him acted in tandem to the words dripping from the clutches of a tongue whetted by nothing more than a haze. He eyed her in return, however on guard he may have been, as he side eyed the drink he’d requested.[break][break]

He made quick work of pulling it aside and sipping upon it once it had been fully prepared.[break][break]

”I’d...say maybe more of the former, honestly~...?” he mused on after some thought, raising his brows and quirking his lip into a flat, yet amused and anticipating smile as he shifted his arm upon the counter before him, all in support of a leisurely lean. He tapped his glass idly. ”Although, I…guess it’d depend on what your definition of ‘recreational’ would be…?”

DAPHNE STONE

☉

Emotions had always been a fickle thing; each and every little descriptive word that could ever be classified beneath the umbrella term being nothing more than an individual unit of annoyance- and yet, when combined and compiled within their masses, always seemed to be more than capable of toppling even the burliest of goliaths within their paths. A cacophony at its finest. Loud. Obtrusive. Blinding, and deafening, and absolutely maddening to any and all that found themselves at the feet of their mercy, consistently beaten and bruised time and time again before naught more than a lull’s worth of reprise- and for what? Only for the sake of being struck down to level within some indefinite timeframe, once more. Mercy. Mercy, mercy, mercy- a concept in itself, pleaded within the face of a similar concept only accurately described as merciless. To say that escape from such an annoyance was possible would never be nothing more than a falsity; a fabricated ideal and offering forged within the blaring, ashen flames of white lies, and tempered, repeatedly, beneath the shroud and space of nothing short of idleness.[break][break]

A beast in itself, with its victims all equated to little more than sheep to slaughter.[break][break]

Forgeries in lies. Temperance within stagnancy. A doused varnishing of naught more than the tried and true embrace of amber, and viridian, and a translucency whose identity was so profound and akin to the grandeur of crystal, all seeking refuge upon the tip of the fleeing refugee as he ran from the cold and frostened clutches of such a drab concept.[break][break]

The taste would always be bitter.[break]
The taste would always be comforting.[break][break]

The comfort itself had been something that he’d been all too desperate for, yet at the same time, all too starved and malnourished of. To smile within the face of the idle judge by simple name of the world had been proven, to many, to be a feat so difficult to achieve; the whims and fight to do so equally as fleeting as the emotions serving as the basis of such issues, with its roots borne, and clutching, and digging deep within the foundations of the motivational seeds housed ever so gingerly beneath a person’s soul. A fickle thing. A fickle, fickle thing whose endurance had always been akin to that of a bruised ego, burning bright within a raging inferno, only to be snuffed by the most minor of inconveniences; the most minor of setbacks. The drink provided solace. The drink provided an escape, amidst other escapes otherwise impossible.[break][break]

He inhaled deeply as the remainder of his escape diminished.[break][break]

The sound of a sigh. The sound of a gentle clatter. Azure voids idly danced upon the image of a glass (a familiar sight and sensation of such frustrating translucency) as the remaining drops of an elixir so savored cascaded upon the bottom once more within their thin veils; pooling within the subtle bit of it prior to ultimately settling into a cease so calm that it had been almost insulting. Calmness, as well, had apparently been fleeting- and that in itself had been the force driving him to glance up towards one of the employees, once more, in request for another round of bittersweet sanctuaries.[break][break]

The words left his lips,albeit barely. Both his and the other’s attention seemed to shift upon the note of another individual, and following a shared glance and a mutual nod, the man merely sought to blink as his order had been appropriately accounted for. Beneath a thin veil of confusion did he stare forth, with brows furrowing slightly as the words offered to him reached his ears. He blinked, turning within his seat to face her for sake of nothing short of politeness. ”Aha… Same thing as you, probably…?” he started off, the beginnings of his words hitched by a vague bout of concern laced between both tongue and speech, alike. His gaze shifted from her for but a moment, flickering to nearby patrons as if noting their reactions (if at all) prior to meeting her gaze, once more. ”It’s, uh...kinda normal to drink at a bar, last I checked~...”

DAPHNE STONE

☉