[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]while he is gone, she makes herself at home in a foreign lab.

there's touches of familiarity: a fleeting scent from a memory, a picture she's seen in passing, even a sound drifting in from somewhere up above ground. she holds onto these small moments, knuckles white as she tries to keep herself focused.

and when he returns, a vial in one hand and steaming hot chocolate in the other, she glances up from the papers in her hand.

"oh, yeah... thanks."

one hand rises to retrieve the mug from him, already bringing it to her lips to take a gulp. it burns slightly with the whiskey but the peppermint eases muscles in the mind of residual anxiety.

"the scale's analysis is -- well, it's interesting to say the least."

she places the mug back down and extends the papers toward him should he want to look for himself.

"i'd like to analyze the blood sample as well, but i think we'll find the same evidence in both results."

there's a slight worry to her expression, subtle lines by the corners of her mouth that bleed into the ghost of a frown.

"the machine they were using... do you remember anything about it? any substances hooked up to it, by any chance?"

Remiel Calcifet

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"yes, i suppose that's correct."

although...

"nothing can prepare you for the unknown, though, especially when it comes to realms no one even knew existed until their gateways opened before us."

it's the idle dream of every scientist: the great unknown beyond this plane. she's always wondered what other worlds would be like, what they would hold, and what their discovery could mean for humanity as they know it.

and yet, now that she has experienced them first hand, she is not so certain she wants to know what this will mean in the grand scheme of it all.

beside her drink, her phone buzzes with new life. a notification of a meeting creeping up in the background, a signal for distraction.

she spares it a glance before finishing off her drink and sliding it back toward his half of the counter.

"sorry, i got a bit carried away there, huh?"

Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the final blow...

Elinor Anderson and her aggron make quick work of the trapped enemy lines. water is decisive and heavy as it beats down the remaining forces until they're all sprawled out on the floor, lights out in the homes of their bodies.

those who still have some sense to them begin to retreat. they begin to drag the wounded away and where her golurk tries to follow, she stops the movement with a raised hand.

"let them go."

her voice is quiet yet firm. there is no shame in letting them retreat. they have already won.

and her body turns, then, to give elinor her full attention. there, a small smile begins to form.

"good work, councilwoman."

Elinor Anderson
get in sygna.

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"it's possible, but i'll know for certain once i run some tests."

from her current standpoint, distortions are unearthly and entirely unpredictable, but she cannot place more faith in them than she already has. science has gotten the world this far... perhaps it will explain the stature of shalin's beedrill as well.

once shalin has wrapped the blanket around queen zing's head, illeana preps her station. needle, vial, alcohol swab, tubing. her gloves snap on a moment later and she looks to shalin when confirmation comes.

"okay."

she swabs the area first, touch gentle against the beedrill's body.

"there might be a little pinch..."

her words are soft as the needle goes into queen zing's skin. she braces for a slight struggle as she connects the tubing to the needle and feeds it into the vial. within moments, enough blood is gathered for her to gentle pull the needle out. after a moment, she caps the vial and settles a hand on the injection site, hand beginning to permeate pink mist.

any residual pain from the blood sample fades with her healing mist.

"i'll begin analysis now. give me a few minutes, please."

and with that, she retreats to the back of her lab to begin blood analysis with her machines.

Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the concept rolls off her shoulders, falling gracelessly to the tiled floor.

"i wouldn't necessarily say it's scary, truthfully."

her smile is wistful, teary in the corners stretching at her cheeks.

"it's a wonderful thing to be blessed by a god... i suppose the downside is when they leave."

she holds her expression in place with shaking hands, a grip too tight to allow for fractures to spider and spread across glass.

"to taste power like that and then go back to being ordinary is a terrible thing."

she had felt like she was on top of the world once.

the fall had nearly killed her.

"when faced with the extraordinary and that kind of power, most people give into their desire to be grander than they were before. besides, a lot of our current avatars were not asked on whim alone. most earned favor or sought to make this their own destiny."

in the end, however, the means do not matter. the result is the only thing people concern themselves with. avatarship is coveted, placed on a pedestal and left to rot the insides of those foolish enough to desire it for themselves.

she should know... for her body is necrotic beneath layers of skin, hollowed out by a pipedream.

Michael Navidson

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]this is the point where she comes face to face with her endless regret... isn't it?

she waits for the sensation to come, for guilt to rush in like a dam bursting beneath the pressure.

and it never quite comes.

she stews in anger, in spite, in hurt. she holds it close, stokes it like one would a fire, and uses it to warm herself up to normal, living body temperature.

"fine."

there is no pleading. no begging. no desperation.

only acceptance.

"don't come, then."

and she feels cold, then, as if he's left her outside in the snow. it makes no difference, though, for he is leaving and she stays rooted in that pained existence until minutes bleed into hours and she finally, begrudgingly, locks her front door.

Felix Gallagher

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]a handful of months ago, his question would have been deemed too personal. too painful to entertain...

now, she allows the concept to roll off her shoulders. a bond lost between human and deity no longer comes associated with hurt and for that, she's grateful.

"tapu lele."

it's spoken with the soft fondness of recalling a former friend, separated by time and circumstance and left to fester in the past as just another memory.

"it -- well, i suppose the best way i could describe it would be a sense of fulfillment?"

her smile shifts into slight embarrassment.

"or, perhaps, finding a missing piece you didn't know you had... if that makes any sense, anyway."

perhaps it does and perhaps not.

"it differs for every avatar, i believe, but my former avatarship had changed me in more ways than i could necessarily explain."

in fact, she's certain she'll never be the same now... but she looks to the possibility of a new patron to fill the void left behind by the old. going from being special and chosen to being nothing has never sat right with her. it never will, perhaps, now that she has had a taste of the power avatarship holds.

Michael Navidson

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"i am fucking serious."

she does not relent, does not concede.

the fight has already been started, the war already waged. there is no turning back, no tucking her tail between her legs and pleading for him to stay.

if he wanted to, he would.

she has grown comfortable with the concept as silence and isolation have persisted in the spaces he's left behind.

"a text, a call, a quick visit on your way to work? what, is that too much for you to do?"

she rattles off suggestions on a low scale, bare minimum that she leaves claw marks in. too many and they'll sink beneath the water, drowning in an early death.

and with the mention of august, of choosing her over his little brother, she scoffs. will he hold that decision over her head as if it was her choice to make? her heels dig in further at the thought.

"then go spend your only day off with august."

dismissive, angry, and hurt, she turns away.

Felix Gallagher

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]eventually, her expression gives way to a pleased smile.

"great, glad to have you on board, navy."

and while she understands the art of preparation, of approaching this operation from a place of security... there is not much she'd advise him to plan for.

"it's entirely possible we'll receive no results from this endeavor so i suppose the only thing i can ask you to prepare for is failure."

her smile is easy, as if this is just another day in the office. and really, it is. she's used to failure in this year long endeavor. still, she keeps trying for a possible success to fall upon her shoulders at the end of the tunnel.

"as for safety in the field, i am a former avatar with some healing powers in tact. i can and will repair whatever wounds you or your team suffer on my behalf."

after a moment, she drinks the rest of her coffee and hums once the mug returns to an empty space on her desk.

"does that work for you?"

Michael Navidson

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she flushes pink with hot embarrassment, eyes widening.

it is unnecessary, Eva Morales's correct in such an assessment. there is not one but two healers in the room. how could she forget?

"right."

she's about to step back, about to give space for John Sullivan to use his abilities in peace... when he makes a movement she does not expect.

"wait --"

her hand juts out before she can stop herself, snatching his hand out of the way of the knife.

and like clockwork, her eyes narrow as if he's a puzzle she can't quite figure out.

"is it easier for you to heal yourself or another person?"

after a moment, she releases his hand and offers hers, palm up.

"if it's the latter, cut mine instead."

John Sullivan Eva Morales

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she hums soft confirmation as eva begins to lead them forward.

careful... they have to be. this place is still unfamiliar territory despite having been here before. who knows what has changed since then?

"will do."

and where eva activates a sygna suit, illeana simply... tugs her cardigan a little closer around herself. it's snug, comforting, and most of all, concealing.

her back is hidden and in this moment, she feels more secure with that thought tucked into her mind.

she sticks close to eva and the light her illumina mr. mime provides. trailing a few steps behind, she shuffles on quickly to not get left behind.

"you know, i didn't think this place was even still around after last time."

after the primal crystals fired back at hoenn, she had thought this place lost. she remembers, briefly, the conversation with dahlia goode too. the lack of activity in this dimensional pocket still strikes her as odd to this very day.

Eva Morales