"What do you want?"

Being selfish was easy - being cruel was not.

Was she cruel?

"You have been my greatest obstacle and my constant support. You weren't what I wanted, either."

Cautiously, the woman steps closer to him, pushing boundaries.

"But I was wrong."

FERNANDO SILPH

GROUDON DEBRIEF

UNEARTHED TEMPTATIONS GROUNDED WITH HEAT

HER QUESTION IS HIS KRYPTONITE. He knows the answer. Knows it better than most when asked for self reflection. But it’s one he can never verbalize. It proves too drastic from the norm for others to understand. And he knows this because he is one step above what they are—what they’ll ever amount to.

“What else is new?”

There’s a smugness in his eyes that betray how his body opens up. He doesn’t welcome her nor does he shoo her away. All he does is gloat, as usual.

Stormy Silph

Uncovering Fernando's secrets, his goals, his aspirations, his wants and needs- it is something she wanted more than she realized. She may not have sought out anyone's approval before, but she did want his.

Her feelings for him were intense and conflicting.

"I want you to kiss me."

FERNANDO SILPH

GROUDON DEBRIEF

UNEARTHED TEMPTATIONS GROUNDED WITH HEAT

HE LEANS IN AT HER REQUEST. Comes in close. Not enough to bridge the gap but enough to make some headway that makes her think otherwise.

“Why?”

And that’s the most important part.

Stormy Silph

"Because it is a basic physiological need."

He leans closer, but not close enough. She squeezes his hand in hers, attention shifting slowly between both of his eyes.

FERNANDO SILPH

GROUDON DEBRIEF

UNEARTHED TEMPTATIONS GROUNDED WITH HEAT

“DO YOU NEED IT?”

He tests her resolve with a single question. To see how far she goes. To see what she necessitates versus what she wants. It’s not the first time they’ve tangoed but he’s never been an easy catch. Even when she succeeds, the conversation that follows always leaves her with a sour taste.

Stormy Silph

Some people did.

She was pretty sure she did.

He was a taste she couldn't shake, a hunger that never went away. No matter how many attempts to follow a different path, no matter how many choices she's actively made to avoid him, here she was.

Again and again and again.

"Do you need cigarettes?"

She tugs on him gently, patient in spite of all of his questioning.

FERNANDO SILPH

GROUDON DEBRIEF

UNEARTHED TEMPTATIONS GROUNDED WITH HEAT

“NO.”

The mention of smoke causes his throat to puff a perfume of MISTY TERRAIN into her face. He’s weaned himself off them recently but that never lasts too long. But to question his self control?

A bad move that is met with unbroachable stubbornness.

The scent is faint. Milder than what she’s used to. Weaker as his powers default to the entity wrestling for control. It settles between them and his back starts to sink against the couch. It’s mere inches but the distance is symbolic.

“I don’t need anything.”

Stormy Silph

Stormy blinks, the puff of pink smoke is sweet but faint and she can't help but wonder if he's learned to control it.

"That isn't true."

Humans were inherently selfish beings, weren't they?

"There is something you need, something you want. I think we both feel it."

She alludes to more than just intimacy, but to the power that thrums in their veins. To the legendary Pokemon at their command, to the power still out and unclaimed in the world.

"I need you, Fern."

FERNANDO SILPH

GROUDON DEBRIEF

UNEARTHED TEMPTATIONS GROUNDED WITH HEAT

HER DECLARATION IS MADE. One she can never take back no matter how much she comes to regret it. He knows better, knows that this is nothing more than a juvenile feeling born from someone who has yet to realize themselves. But he accepts it nonetheless.

And that makes him just as guilty.

His fingers close around her own. A vice grip born from words that mean more than she’ll ever know. With that, he pulls her in, ropes her into falling into his lap.

This is what she wanted, right?

Actions speak louder than words but his words carry a malice that resents her for putting him in such a spot.

“Is that what you came here for?”

Stormy Silph

Her declaration is one that she doesn't want to take back, one that she truly believes. She is so sure of herself, so convinced by her choice that she does not waver.

She loves unconditionally and with every fiber of her body.

Even when it kills her.

The woman sucks in a breath when his fingers latch around her own. He holds fast, pulling her in, and she falls into his lap to sit face to face. She studies his face, watching, waiting. Waiting for it to fall apart, for him to pull away, for another brutal round of rejection.

But it doesn't come.

"Does that make me selfish?"

FERNANDO SILPH

GROUDON DEBRIEF

UNEARTHED TEMPTATIONS GROUNDED WITH HEAT

“INCREDIBLY SO.”

It makes her a lot of things. Selfish. Cruel. Just about every negative word he can think of. But is that so wrong? To many, yes. But that’s what makes them Silphs. The ability to do bad, to be the worst they can be, as long as it leads to success.

Because that’s all that matters.

And how successful will she be in her venture?

“But you can’t help it, right? You need it, right?”

Stormy Silph

It was worse than selfish, probably, because she didn't need him for any personal gain. She had no scheme, no plan, no path- only him. Only the ache in her chest that seems to ease when she talks to him, only the comfort that comes when he fits her hand in his.

She is a hopeless, stupid, selfish romantic, helpless and drowning. He is a lifeline easily snatched out from under her. He is a cruel, manipulative, selfish man.

But they are the same.

"I do."

So what is she waiting for?

She leans in, lips hovering inches before his own.

FERNANDO SILPH