A voice spoke up behind her. Perhaps familiar, perhaps not. Their first meeting had stretched over 8 hours, but that didn't mean she had bothered to remember.

"Fancy meeting you here, missie." He said, standing behind her, straw hat hanging off his neck along his back. He held a bouquet of flowers on one hand, it leaning against his shoulder while he tugged uncomfortably at his necktie with the other.

He wasn't used to wearing a suit for this kind of work, but he supposed he should just be glad he now had a suit and consistent work.

"Hope I ain't being too rude. Still not used to this kinda stuff." He said, his gaze moving away from her to the memorial in front of her. He seemed to at least understand this was an important place to her, and took a step back.

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TAG: cait alfric

Doug craned his head back and let her the pretty lady fix his tie, humming his gratitude.

"Much obliged. Couldn't get it perfect no matter how many times I tried." He said, chuckling. He could only hope he got better with practice.

Her guess about him was correct. He was one of the many paying their respects.

It was easier to empathize with others than to attend to his own issues.

"Guess it's become a thing, then." He said, nodding. "I've some business here in Fortree; it ain't urgent, though. So I came."

His gaze was pulled back to the monument as she pointed each name out, his gaze moving over each and every one before it came back to her.

He tilted his head. "It a special day for y'all?" He said, wondering.

He didn't doubt a woman like her was already taking part in the 'Days of Mourning', but she was visiting her family's monument specifically.

"That's a lotta names, gotta say." He said, "If I 'member right, y'all were from Johto before, right?"

For a family to keep track of its lineage for so many generations... He wondered why.

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TAG: cait alfric

"Gotcha. I'll keep it brief, then." He said, not wanting to distract her from her work.

The memorial was sobering in a way that could make even an occasional jokester like him somber. The list of names stretched on forever both side-&-up ways, and one could tell that a large number of them had been added recently, their etchings upon the black stone clear and untouched by the elements, compared to others.

Bouquet of flowers in hand, the youth approached the monument and placed them near the rest. Many others had come to visit, it seemed. Many had left much grander offerings to the dead- he only had enough money for a bouquet, so it'll have to do.

He wasn't particularly religious, but he still brought his hands together and muttered a prayer.

And with that, he was done.

He turned back to Cait, and she let him know a bit more of her family's history. He more or less had an idea of what she spoke- but of course, it was different to hear of it as experience instead of historical fact.

"Weird to think Johto used to be such a horrible place." He said, eyes glazing over slightly in memory. "We used to go there all the time. People seemed nice."

He seemed to realize what he said a moment later- so he shook his head sharply, blowing out air.

"'pologies 'bout that; 'course a place ain't the same after hundreds o'years." He said, reaching to adjust his hat- and realizing it wasn't on his head for once. He began fetching it behind his head."Though Hoenn's still a great place to start over."

If the constant strife didn't kill you, that is.

"I don't think I like Hoenn too much, tho." He said, finally finding his hat, placing it atop his head and tipping it down. "Seems like troubles brew up one after another, no matter what we do."

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TAG: cait alfric

Doug flicked the brim of his hat up while tilting a brow, grinning at Cait.

"Come on now, I'm 16, not 6. I don't need a guardian!" He said with a laugh, though he still patted his jacket, were his pokeballs were hidden. "But I guess I have a few. Six of them, as a matter of fact."

He winked.

"I promise though, I can handle myself. Got plenty of practice since I arrived to Hoenn." He said. "I'm even licensed to look after others now."

He reached into his jacket's inner pocket, producing his spanking brand new League Trainer Card, marking him as an officer for the Hoenn Pokemon League.

"It's all going well at the homeless camp. Got Healthcare now, so my gramps can go get checked at the hospital." He said. "Been traveling farther and more frequently since I became part of the league. Seems like they are little understaffed, so they've run me ragged."

He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"Can't complain though, I needed the experience more than my own pokemon did." He said, smirking at his own little pun.

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TAG: cait alfric

He had noticed her frown, if nothing else. He wasn't sure what he had said that had cause it- seemed to be about his license, but he couldn't really fathom why she would disapprove.

She certainly didn't share, so he couldn't even be sure if he had actually displeased her or if she had just recalled something annoying.

Of course, she was offering him her phone number by the end of his words, so he had clearly also done something right.

"Uh, okay." He said, staring at the digits wide eyed. This was the first time a pretty girl offered him her number. He was too shocked to question it.

Absentmindedly, he pocketed into his jacket, wondering why the best luck he ever had with a girl was at a bloody cemetery.

Arceus truly worked in mysterious ways.

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TAG: cait alfric