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POSTED ON Oct 9, 2020 17:11:52 GMT

continued from (fruition)

Busted. You got just a little too flashy with a knife and suddenly they had you all figured out.

He tried to deflect; "That first bit wasn't a question, Cait." In the way she stared him down it was only a matter of time before she asserted that her second line of questioning was actually in the form of a question. He rolled his eyes at her playfully having been pinned in a corner to share about the one thing he did want to keep to himself for a while long.

"In my early twenties I left Kanto to study the Culinary Arts, in Slateport." He remembered his time abroad fondly. It was what awaited him when he returned to Kanto that sullied those memories. "I wasn't here in Hoenn long, only about a year or so before I got accepted into a program in Lumiose City, Kalos. I studied there for three years and then finished it all with a work-study in Alola."

Better with busywork he chopped the onions and carrots with the speed of a professional he wasn't sure how Cait wanted to cook them, only sure that he wanted to cut them. His back was turned to her as he cut but he gave her what she asked for. "My parents moved to Rustboro a while back when Mt. Cinnabar erupted. My father's retired and Mom works for Devon." She got more information about his family than she could have with one question.

His playful banter wasn't completely thrown away but talking about Kanto at all sullied his mood some.

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POSTED ON Oct 9, 2020 19:34:57 GMT

she noticed the slight shift of his overall tone, the subtle downturn in mood easily picked up. this was what caused her to not press the subject, not entirely sure what had resulted in the barely there shift. so she nodded, appearing satisfied enough by the information put forth.

"alright," she said, simply.

cait stood there for a moment, merely watching him neatly chop the vegetables. it was a mesmerizing enough process, her silence contemplative as she mulled over his words.

'kanto, maybe.'

the region's present state was less than ideal, after all.

"thank you."

she waited until he paused his work to approach and stand upon her tippy toes to kiss his cheek. he was so much more taller than her, the girl naught more than five feet and three inches in comparison. but she likes this about him, personally fancying taller men and women both.

"cooking anything? or is this just to help me out?"

cait allowed him his space to work, leaning against the nearest wall to pull free her phone and check her messages. several had come through, one pertaining to a scheduled meeting.

'optional, thank the gods.'

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POSTED ON Oct 10, 2020 3:01:23 GMT

The way she thanked him so formally and followed up with a kiss, he must have been coming off more wounded than he realized. He internalized her gesture of reassurance and it felt like what he'd felt when he slept on the couch with her.

Kanto was only a touchy subject because of the context of his last memories there. The way he left and how feeble it would be to go back.

He still carried the pains of his own incompetence and arrogance; what more he went on to lose to truly accept his home was lost to him. It was all a wound only time could heal and even if he wouldn't speak of that incident in and of itself just yet. He didn't want her to feel those parts of his past was beyond her curiosity.

Leaving the knife on the cutting board he stepped back so that she could start with what she wanted to cook for them both.

"If the mention of Mt. Cinnabar didn't give it away." He crossed his arms as he leaned back against an opposing counter. "I was born in Kanto; on Cinnabar Island." He dug down deep for the warmer memories of his home, the fierce battles of fire-types normalized in the local Gym instantly coming to mind.

"They called it," He spread his hands out with extended fingers like he was sizing up a sign post. "-The Fiery Town of Burning Desire."

"That common story of kids leaving home to travel the country by themselves at the break of their adolescence to become Pokémon Masters?" He used air quotes for "Pokemon Master". "I was one of those kids almost two decades ago."

He felt strange referencing how much time had gone by since those days. "Battles and collecting were just a way of life and I was pretty good at it." Given how early he started it was no surprise. "The Gym circuit at the time starting from Cinnabar was Ground-types in Viridian City, Rock-types in Pewter City, Water-types in Cerulean." His tone in mentioning Cerulean City hinted at how daunting and relentless his uncountable battles with those water specialists were. "Vermillion City did Electric-types at their Gym and Celadon... Celadon was like a second home." He visited his uncle there every summer to (illegally) gamble at the original Game Corner.

"Their gym was Grass-types; after the struggles with my mostly fire-team getting through Pewter and Cerulean once I got to Celadon, I swept the entire Gym with one Charmeleon; believe it or not." In his battle with the Gym Leader they'd nearly burned the entire gym down.

Reliving those old struggles and victories he couldn't force down his smile again. "I had a pretty dope childhood actually."

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POSTED ON Oct 10, 2020 8:45:55 GMT

Sénon Game likes this

"it most certainly sounds like you did."

cait listened as she prepared a vegetable stew for them both, taking each piece of information and discreetly stowing it away. it had been a wise decision not to immediately probe him for more, the man allowing himself to speak more freely now.

"you were - what - a little over ten when you started - give or take a few years?"

she looked at him, taking in his form. he was a grown man now, presently working his way slowly but surely to his thirties. but still the former gym leader could imagine him as a boy, small and immature as he traveled with his starter in tow.

'a charmander, it sounds like.'

cait wondered if he had any pictures of when he was a child, certain he was probably as adorable as he was handsome now. she chuckled at the image conjured in her mind, continuing her work as she moved about the kitchen.

"what made you stop?"

he sounded like he was entirely enthused by the process years later. but perhaps that was simply nostalgia at play.

"when i was a gym leader," she said, conversationally. "i saw so many men and women who were eager to get their badges. but i never developed an interest in it myself. i never understood the desire to make it to the league."

and battling had never been something she enjoyed excessively. it was fun on occasion, but she only trained in preparation for war and to protect her hearth and home.

"and when i was that age - "

she wiped her hands and fished out an old picture from a nearby drawer, a small film of dust settling over it. she'd reveal a picture of herself at the tender age of eleven, her hair brown with wisps of green starting to show. the child that was cait bore her teeth in a grin, the smile shining with the metal of braces that eventually straightened her formerly crooked teeth. the freckle-faced and brown-skinned child was holding a gardening tool, garbed in attire that was dirty and likely sweaty.

"the family trade. gardening, harvesting herbs, healing, taking care of our pokemon...."

she stowed away the picture, memories returning to her in potent and vivid waves as she resumed making their dinner.

"it was fun and everything was so simple back then. we kept things simple, you know?"

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POSTED ON Oct 10, 2020 20:07:51 GMT

cait alfric and Sénon Game like this

[newclass=.rndBG]--rndColor:#6f5e7b[/newclass]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","rndBG"]

[attr="class","rndHead"]

[attr="class","lnr lnr-bubble"]

[attr="class","lnr lnr-magic-wand"]

🎃TRICK-or-TREAT!

[attr="class","rndHeadA"]

[attr="class","rndIMG"]

[attr="class","rndText"]
A PUMPKABOO FLOATS BY with a treat clasped underneath its tiny fangs. both of you receive the following:[break][break]

[break][break]
(note: pumpkaboo can be ic or entirely ooc)[break]
Sénon Game cait alfric

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POSTED ON Oct 10, 2020 20:09:59 GMT

He had no qualms admitting the end of his career as a "Pokémon Master".

"The Indigo League's Elite Four stopped me." If she looked at him, he would have had a grin on his face not unlike the one he'd had a moment ago; when she turned down his advances to do sex stuff to her against the cabin.

He scrubbed at his teeth with his tongue from memory of the four of them. "I'm not sure how Hoenn does it today but over in Kanto, back then, beating the Elite Four was a 4on1 gauntlet." The audible sound of his fist hitting the opposite palm made him roll his eyes with an almost joy at the memories. "You had to beat them all back to back with no breaks. I never pulled it off. Over my two years of trying the rotation changed so in time I beat all four of them, but never all four back to back." Looking over he noticed how enthralled Jūken was in his trainer's reminiscence.

"When I decided I was leaving Kanto and putting my dream of being a 'Master' behind me in exchange for skill in a kitchen, I returned my entire roster to the wild, except for my core team. Just over one-hundred pokémon set free all around the region in a week."

Asking of when he left home to pocket monsters for a living he remembered the day like it was yesterday. "I was eleven." He said it fondly taking a look at the picture of her from her childhood. Given their age difference he would have been about sixteen or seventeen years old when the picture was taken. They wouldn't have had much in common.

With a little twist in time that would have allowed himself at eight years old to meet herself at eight years old, they would have gotten on like a garden on fire. That was a good thing despite the state of the proverbial garden. He'd loved being outdoors and doing 'stuff' as a kid. Meeting girl who knew how to grow food and had green highlights would have piqued his interests straight away. "I wouldn't say my family kept things simple."

"My father was a baker by trade, and my mother restored pokémon fossils in the Lab on Cinnabar. Complexity was just part of our day to day." The recollection of his childhood made him ever-hopeful of the future and the human children he would one day father. "But we always made time for each other. So in those ways, we kept it simple too."

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POSTED ON Oct 10, 2020 22:53:23 GMT

"you miss them."

cait had been quarreling with a loneliness that had worsened as of late, her family's abrupt absence having worsened it tremendously. she had quit her job as a gym leader for the sole purpose of being close to them - and now they were gone. and, depending on the length of the war, they were likely to be away for a while yet.

'and all those pokemon,' she thought. 'all released into the wilds. i can't blame him for the decision, but i can't imagine letting mine go.'

they were all well-equipped to handle the wilds, but she'd rather they stay within her reach. she loved them immensely, from the smallest to the largest among their great number.

"maybe i'll meet them one day," she said, her smile slight. "when things have settled down."

as they talked the stew was cooked, everything brought together in the steel pot and set to bubble and simmer. she added her seasonings with a hum, careful to add the correct amount.

"when did you know that you wanted to cook? when you saw your daddy work?"

cait turned her gaze upon him as the food cooked, head cocked lightly to the side.

"not too many people have degrees nowadays," she said. "a bachelors in culinary arts isn't something you see a lot. enjoy school?"

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2020 1:29:53 GMT

He gestured away the idea of missing his parents. "Nah, I see them all the time. I pop in to visit them in Rustboro more than I did when they were in Cinnabar and I was collecting badges." What he missed was Cinnabar Island; the little piece of volcanic rubble they collectively called home.

The truth of it was that his parent had adapted to life in Hoenn better than he had. Given they didn't grow up on the island it was only himself who held such a strong attachment to the town.

"You want to meet my parents?" He understood why but it was fun to 'twist the knife' in those potentially awkward moments. "Are we at that point already?" His tone more inquisitive than challenging.

"My days abroad were the second-best days of my life. It was hard work but I learned a lot about myself, learned a bit about women and curbed a lot of my childish bad habits." Going through her freezer he pulled from what little meat he could find setting it in the sink to thaw and rinsing his hands. "I found out how much I enjoy nurturing things; providing nourishment and guidance in particular. What it is to make with my own hands something that sustains the body and warms the heart..."

He dried his hands on a towel sitting on the counter tossing it over his shoulder. "Nothing in this world gives me a stronger feeling of purpose."

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cai

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2020 3:13:58 GMT

she briefly fumbled her own words at the inquiry, grinning somewhat sheepishly.

"i'm just curious about them."

the young woman replaced the lid of the plot, deciding to clean up what as she spoke. she preoccupied herself with busywork, taking hold of a rag and wiping down the counter's top with amild cleaning fluid.

"i guess i'm similar in a lot of ways. i enjoy cultivating life. in another life i'd probably have my own farm - or maybe i'd become a doctor."

cait decided to indulge in a cup of sweet tea, offering some to sénon as she poured herself a glass.

"but i'm fine being a herbologist. i enjoy working with plants and with the earth. i guess that's pretty obvious by now."

she took a sip of her drink after claiming a seat at her kitchen's table.

"sometimes i wonder if joining the league had been the best decision. it feels like i put everything on hold and sometimes i wonder if it was really worth it."

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2020 6:00:08 GMT

He listened to Cait with an open mind and made connections where he saw them, "Cooking brings me fulfillment but one of the final things I learned before I came back from my studies in he eastern regions was that cooking for strangers under someone else's banner felt empty." -building to a point where he could.

"It wasn't until the last year or so during my work study that I realized I want to nourish the body and spirits of those of who matter to me." The paths had been laid out before him so clearly when his time in Alola came to an end. He could go on in this new career path... "My friends, my family, my community, my pokémon." Or, he could go home with the knowledge and skills he'd developed.

The incident regarding leaving Team Rocket and Kanto for the last time put him out of commission for more than a year but in time even that pain gave him perspective.

"When I realized that cooking in-and-of itself and indiscriminately at that, wasn't what I wanted, I began gathering pokémon again just instinctively." Stepping his foot out Riolu stepped on the foot before Sénon launched him upwards like a soccerball only for the Emanation Pokémon to twist into a front flip landing on his trainer's shoulders. "If I couldn't have my own shop to nourish my community, I would just build a new community around me without the shop."

Being the second pokémon he'd caught after healing from the 'incident' Jūken and Sénon had a special connection.

"From there pokémon training just seemed natural; my childhood having already taught me that food itself wasn't the only way to stimulate the spirit and nurture the body." He turned on the water to a warm quiet run letting it coast over the packaged meat to speed up thawing.

Five years of professional schooling and he still sometimes forgot to thaw his meats.

"My point being; it took time for me to tie together my experiences into something that could fulfill me and and sustain my way of life." He mused. "It took time to even have the experiences to be able to later tie them together when I had enough of them."

"I'll be thirty in a couple in a couple of years and I don't even have a 'name' for what it is I'm trying to be." Battle Chef? Cooking Trainer? Pokédaddy?

"So..." He leaned in to speak it lowly in her ear, like he was telling her something naughty he wanted to do to her, running the risk of her parents hearing what he'd said. "-you sound like a maniac when you question if you made the right decision spending two of your twenty-one years increasing your knowledge of pokémon, building professional work contacts and ultimately securing a mass tract of land for you, your ambitions and your two-hundred something pokémon to live on peacefully." Pushing his forehead against her temple he stole an audible kiss from the corner of her mouth the moment she'd turn to look at him. "Even without being the 'Chosen One of Time' you're nothing short of astounding Cait."

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2020 15:27:03 GMT

"i never - "

her mouth opened and closed, the girl blinking owlishly as she considered his perspective. it was a valid point, cait having successfully acquired the resources that she'd inevitably need in the past two years. maybe it was worth the distance - putting her life on a sort of temporary hold as she accumulated wealth, assets and experience.

" - thought of it like that."

and her shoulders sagged lightly, a sudden and desperately needed relief felt. she peered around her kitchen - her home - realizing all her work had allowed her to have this.

"you're right."

a quiet hum escaped her, the girl's eyes falling shut as she stood and gingerly wrapped her arms around him. she leaned against him, the look she wore tender and bordering on content.

"thank you," she repeated, her voice soft. "i didn't realize i needed to hear that up 'till now."

it irked her that fate had decided to delay their meeting. no matter how temporary or permanent this relationship was, he was what she needed for a long while. even now, he was leaving an impression upon her - his words carrying tremendous weight that proved lasting.

"i really like you, sénon."

she pressed her face into his chest, her words partially muffled because of it.

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2020 15:49:47 GMT

He never expected much affection for saying things that were just true. It was always a nice surprise.

Wrapping her arms around Sénon made Jūken jump from his shoulder so that the two could be alone. His innate ability to sense auras told him the two humans were entwined in some emotional way he found fascinating.

For the man himself, his hand stroked down her back returning the warmth of her gesture. The other hand fell to her lower back, the thumb alone rubbing reassuringly in circular motions on the poke where her back stopped and her "backside" started. It wasn't just her, it made him feel good to be in her embrace as well, even if it was his words that triggered her affection her words spoke life into him as well.

What he hadn't mentioned was how he'd hid himself away after his near death from Team Rocket and the loss of the lives of his core team. The way he sulked and hated and withdrew until he was so empty his instincts made him nourish others in the very way he needed yet couldn't, for himself.

Prolific as a writer her five words so sweet, wrote volumes onto the subconscious of his mind. He knew what she was really saying with those words. He kissed her forehead and let his chin rest gently on her scalp.

"I used to think everything happens for a reason." Time and experience curbed such a neive view that the expanse of the universe had a plan for every living thing that ever was. "I don't believe that anymore but I do know; sometimes the randomness of the universe gets things right." Salamence being an unruly bastard of a dragon made him land on that hill outside Mauville and things had been different ever since.

The hand on her lower back slipped to her hip when he said the word "right" and he pulled her closing to his body, the grip stronger expressing his own need and that he wasn't just comforting her.

The mutual embrace was a hallmark on their golden moment and as it began to pass "but if you like me now..." he jovially gave her fair warning that he intended to give her what deserved for making such a memory with him. "you're gonna love me in the morning."

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cai

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2020 17:58:13 GMT

SPIRAL likes this

something within her bristled with excitement, the young woman reminded of what was very likely to occur after their dinner. she tamped down her urges, merely offering him a sly look. there was an underlying coyness to her display, cait wanting to leave him eager.

"i look forward to it."

she was all smiles and bounciness in the aftermath of their conversation, deciding to turn the subject elsewhere. the verbal exchange would take on a far lighter tone, the former gym leader inquiring about information that could be considered largely irrelevant. she'd finish their meal and allowed him to add whatever he pleased as a side dish, the two left a large meal with plenty of leftovers once they had finished.

the mood was good and cheerful, cait's eyes alight with a giddy happiness that was rarely seen. and such a look would remain, though it would shift into a lustful one as she revealed that she had acquired lingerie for this occasion. deep green and heavily laced, the faint scent of perfume clung to her freckled skin and caused her to carry the fragrance of a pecha berry.

she'd embrace him again, lovingly and gently.

[ brief time skip to morning ]

the woman awoke sore but well-rested, pressing gentle kisses upon sénon's face before taking a hot shower and wrapping herself in a fluffy robe. she'd toss their scattered clothing in the wash, generating as little noise as she could.

'8:06 am,' she thought, glancing at the time piece mounted on the wall. 'i overslept.'

she shrugged and returned to the bedroom, settling on the rumpled sheets of her bed.

"senon, baby? i've got to head to town to pick up some medicine. your clothes are in the wash - but i can wait for you if you want to come along."

her hand reached, gingerly toying with a single piece of his beautifully vibrant mane.

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Cinnabar Island

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2020 22:22:56 GMT

His sense of touch came to before the rest of him did. The slightest tugging of his hair told his downed hair was trapped under wriggling about; Cait's head or arm. With each second of stimuli he realized what was happening; she was playing in his hair again.

Her touch was so gentle and deliberate he didn't stir at first; he liked it. When she played with his hair he found her at her most powerless against him, at her least reserved about her interest in him. Like a child picking up all the puppies in a pet store.

It was so soothing it took a moment "You can't leave." He said like he meant it, but he didn't open his eyes; he was still half-sleep after all. "I'm in pain." He turnedhis body over to face her in full; his body fetal. "Herbologist means you're a healer and a gardener."

His eyes fought the daylight breaking through the window as he frowned at her, the sheets pulled over his head like a hood, red vines sprawling out down his collarbone. "That means you know what nocturnal penile tumescence is." Serious as he was, his blood-deprived brain still managed to sneak a pun into the plead for relief.

Of course if it made the pun obvious, she probably would leave him to suffer.

"I think I'm going into Hypovolemic Shock." He was being dramatic but not untruthful. To that end he put it in the plainest way he could articulate with all his blood flowing south. "Cait, I need you."

● tags: cait alfric
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cai

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POSTED ON Oct 12, 2020 22:52:31 GMT

cait's rarely unpainted but still glossy lips give a wobble, her eyes alight with amusement.

"oh," she croons, lovingly. "my poor baby."

she reached out and peeled away the bit of cover that concealed his face, leaning in to give him a light peck on the lips.

"you'll manage without. you're a big and strong man, after all."

the woman gave him a pat on the cheek that bordered on condescending, resisting that urge to throw back her heard and give a laugh as she did so. her free hand continued to toy with his hair, cait never having bothered to conceal her infatuation with it.

"and i'm already late heading to the pharmacy. you kept me up all night," she remarked, her eyes giving a light roll.

she pulled away and reached into her dresser, picking out an outfit to wear and quickly getting changed.

"it'll be a half hour before your clothes are done. there's food in the kitchen if you're hungry. and if you're headed out shoot me a text and don't worry about locking the door."

cait made her way into her bathroom, applying a lighting coating of make up with practiced hands as she prepared for her day.