"help? no. i'm here to babysit your ass."

not entirely true but not entirely false either; they thought it best to send two for this particular mission. for what reason exactly, cian isn't sure, because it only takes one to hunt some ghosts.

"not afraid of ghosts, are you?"

Eli rolled his eyes and gave Cian a lovely middle finger. "Shut up. I don't need your help for this," he claimed, trying to boast his confidence.

But, he really actually did. Because as soon as his friend decided to make fun of him, he got defensive.

"N-no, I'm not! Idiot!" he said, stomping towards the woods as if to prove the point. And boy, Eli felt his stomach drop the further he went.

"Come on, let's go!"

the middle finger is met with a smirk before he returns one of his own; completely justified and friendly, of course.

"i believe you."

with a chuckle, cian follows after eli, soon catching up to him before bumping shoulders.

"why'd they send you, anyway? don't you have better things to do?"

Elliott felt some relief when Cian followed, shoulders dropping a bit when he noticed him beside him. He hoped he didn't notice.

"Money, dude. I gotta send it home," he reminded him. "Mom and Dad need to eat somehow."

The further they got into the woods, the more he dreaded coming. "Why are you here?"

cian did notice, but he'd feel a little bit bad about pointing it out again. there's no need to repeat what's been said nor what they both know. so instead, he offers eli a friendly enough smile, hoping to ease his nerves.

"if you need money you can always ask, eli. it's safer than doing this shit."

the woods grow darker all around them, though he shows no signs of discomfort.

"i told you. they sent me to help you."

Dammit, now he was getting flustered and forgetting what he had said before. Elliott just thanked whatever entities were above, if there were any, that Cian didn't mention it and followed him into the woods.

"I'm not asking you for money. You know I'm not going to do that," he said, giving him a look. "I just... I don't know. I can't do that." Eli looked back at the woods.

Maybe it was something his parents taught him. About working - or stealing - to get what he needed. Not depending on someone else.

"i get that."

really, he does, because that's what running is about, isn't it? depending on yourself and no one else.

"i'm just saying. i don't want to see you getting hurt, man."

at that, something moves up ahead, shadow-like in how it slinks across the ground before darting off to the side.

"uhh...i think something's watching us."

Elliott looks over at Cian again. Sometimes, he wondered exactly what he had done to be rewarded with a friend like him. While they were both jackasses to each other, he wouldn't trade him for the world.

"I won't get hurt. At least, I won't intentionally."

Jeez, that'd probably come back to bite him in the ass, wouldn't it?

Eli's head snapped back forward, chills running down his spine. Shit. "Where?" He looked around, eyes scanning the treetops. Not aware that whatever Cian had seen...

Was actually slinking up behind him.

his hand curls around a pokeball in his pocket as he looks around them, suddenly cautious and aware of just how vulnerable they seem to be.

they're exposed with nowhere to hide, but plenty of places to run.

cian could easily just leave elliott behind...

"behind you!"

right as he yells his warning, a haunter floats on behind elliott, attempting to LICK the grunt.

Elliott barely heard Cian's call on time, almost stumbling and falling on his face as he practically ran forward to avoid the LICK. His hand reached for a pokeball, unsure which of his pokemon he was calling out.

It was Enya, his Houndoom, and she was prepared.

"Enya! Use CRUNCH!" Poor Eli was standing there looking petrified. It was really embarrassing.

Hopefully Cian wouldn't make fun of him about this later.

odds are, cian's most likely going to be making fun of him later, but it's out of love, he swears.

the CRUNCH makes the haunter scream, and it's at that point that cian assumes the houndoom has it handled. so his hand slides out of his pocket, leaving his pokeball for now as he steps towards elliott.

"you good, man?"

Enya attacked and successfully made the Haunter retreat, much to Eli's relief. He finally regained his ability to stand properly, dusting off his clothes which were covered in dust and dirt.

"Yeah, I'm... fine."

Gods, he hated ghost types.

"Fucking hell. How much further do we have to look in here?" he asked, trying to be brave as he walked forward, keeping Enya free from her ball.

as selfish as it might be, cian's glad it had been elliott who the haunter decided to attack. he would've hated being LICKED by the ghost, and that's coming from someone who likes being LICKED.

"i think we're almost at the end."

he follows after.

"there's this soiree thing at mossdeep soon. you gonna go?"