he's looking sideways at sam at the start of the explanation, trying to check in and make sure he's cool. and sam has a weird faraway look in his eyes, but knox can't exactly ask him if something's wrong. because 'partner' to these guys meant partner-in-crime, quite literally, and he's not here to dote on said partner. 

he's here to work. so he shrugs aside his anxieties and turns to the task at hand, which isn't really so difficult. as smitten as he is with knox, his brain has craved something, anything else to keep it occupied. 

"alright. i'll go grab it. get the truck started." he looks at sam with an it's cool. stay here. and walks over to the gas station. 

the pokeballs are waiting in a bag inside a trash can; electronic locks ring around the outside to prevent any accidents. knox reaches in and grabs for it, opens it up to check and make sure it's all there. his eyes linger on the brick that's also in the bag. 

throat stings, shivering, shuddering. his teeth click when captain sends a jolt up his ankle. he shoulders the drawstring and lopes back to the idling car. 

their driver's lit another cigarette. "so, ya got a name, partner?" he says to sam, gaze flickering up to the rearview mirror.

samuel carter

☉

when knox leaves, sam's eyes watch him closely. the goons and the truck mean nothing to sam and he shows as much by having his side toward them, front toward knox. he doesn't let his back stay toward them because he didn't bring his sableye along. usually the critter is on his back looking like a golden backpack or hidden within his hood, watching sam's back -- literally -- for him.

knox' hesitation is noticed, but the man fires up the truck and asks him a question while puffing cigarette smoke into the environment. they're not on his mountain so he doesn't care. instead, he just shrugs his shoulder.

"that's a bit of a stupid question. as less than one percent of the global population is born without being named."

hurry up knox or sam's going to end up getting in a fight...

knox prescott

the drawstring bag is in his lap and it almost has him hypnotized. he doesn't care about the pokeballs that are in there, but his nose itches. he snubs at it with his thumb (still a mistake) and then turns to look at sam, to look at the one thing that can possibly distract him from this pull. 

and then he goes off and says that and knox barks a laugh. "hear that, ricky? new guy just said 'fuck you,'" snorts the other guy in the passenger seat. 

"y'know, i thought i missed ya, knox, but now i'm remembering the shitty company ya keep." knox rolls his eyes and looks out the window, but not before knocking his knee gently against sam's. 

everything's going smoothly. they bypass oldale without a hitch. all knox'll have to do is send caspian out to scope the place before the drop is made and then they're home free. 

except, of course, for the sirens behind them. "shit." ricky pulls over and looks between know and then pointedly at sam. "keep this one quiet."

"why'd we get pulled?" says the guy in the other seat. ricky sweats. 

"fuck if i know."

samuel carter

☉

when knox enters the vehicle sam notices the way he's fidgeting. he doesn't understand what it is, this is new. or at least, this is something that is new since they had been together for a long period of time... days, as a matter of fact. what is this? why is he so bouncy and-- at least he's laughing.

then the knee that knocks his has sam letting out a sigh, a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in. and then sirens call and he's tense all over again. he's told to hush and he makes a face. they're not his mother, or knox, he pointedly does not have to listen to them.

and then they ask a question that sam knows the answer to.

"your tail light is out." the tone used is as dull as ever, void of care. they're not knox, his mother, or a client, so he doesn't care to force emotion.

he moves a hand, instinctively, between he and knox. even sits up a bit more straight. alert, protective.

knox prescott

ricky snaps another look back at sam, but knox isn't watching either of them right now. he's looking at their other partner. he's thinking, i've worked with ricky before, but where have i seen you? because he recognized that grating laugh, that gravelly voice. 

realization chills him to the bone. he'd only seen a brief flash of his face before his world had gone dark. knox tenses beside sam.

"that's not why," he says quietly. in the rearview mirror, knox sees the man in the passenger seat smirk. 

meanwhile ricky's rolling down his window and greets the officer with a friendly wave, holding up his id, but the officer isn't an officer at all. it's marcus. sam will recognize him as the attendant who delivered the coke to the two on a silver platter at the party.

captain's cheeks buzz in warning. "thank you, sir. do you know why i stopped you tonight?"

"uh, my tail light's out?"

"oh, so you do know. well, let me see your license and registration. i'd let ya off with a warni -" 

"actually, we were just on our way to get it fixed," knox says, interrupting. look at me, motherfucker. look me in the eyes. marcus smiles, peers past ricky to look at him, and then sam. his eyes glitter. 

"is that so? okay, gentleman." he withdraws, holds a hand up to ricky. "get that fixed or i'll have to write you up next time."

ricky rolls the window back up and sits in stunned silence. all of this goes over his head, but he's not stupid. he knows something's wrong in the car. knox makes a face and then looks at the other guy. 

"is this supposed to scare me?"

he turns, brows raised, and says, "yes."

samuel carter

☉

there is tension in the car from only three people, not four. he shifted then, hand beneath his hoodie, to pull out his gastly's pokéball, keeping a hold on his gardevoir's as well. the gastly formed, quietly, by his feet. likely unnoticed by anybody who sam cared would notice her gaseous form.

'is this supposed to scare me?'

sam isn't scared, he is calculating. there is fear far beneath the cold exterior that rises when he begins to feel a panic. he looks to the gastly and winks. she immediately releases a CLEAR SMOG into the car. when the fog covers them, as the others ask 'what the fuck,' he sets gardevoir's ball in knox' hand and shifts, moving to whisper in knox' ear as he is pulling knox' shirt up past knox' nose gently. then he begins opening the door.

"just in case. try not to breathe."

as he exits the car, his free hand dives into his pocket to pull out his glalie. the beast immediately flares to life, the sound of cold shining. pulling his hood down, he watches as marcus turns to look at him, a bit surprised.

as well he should be. but, sam gives him a chance.

"what are your intentions, marcus?"

with a cool smile, marcus simply smiled. "intentions, sir?"

"wrong answer."

tw: violence / gore

SPOILER: Click to show

pulling his hand up and out of his pocket, he reveals mega accessory necklace on a chain. the only reason it's not around his neck is because the metal irritates his skin, flares his sensitivities, makes him anxious. but feeling the chain wrap and coil around his fingers calms him. even more, empowers him, as the glalitite glows and begins to transform his glalie.

a grotesque crunching noise resounds as the glalie's mouth breaks open, it's mega form coming to life in an instant. the only words that come from its trainer are, "don't make a mess."

his gastly's CLEAR SMOG is leaking out of the truck, enveloping the two of them with ease. in a panic, marcus releases his pokémon in an attempt to protect himself. but the mega glalie immediately releases a SHEER COLD, freezing both in place. freezing them solid where they stood. and as this was not a training battle, the glalie knows that the threat against her trainer is the target, more than the pokémon. she's been released for a meal, not a battle, and she takes part in the cuisine left before her, frozen to pieces. she crunches the bodies, but does as she is told.

she leaves no bit of them behind. as she was told not to make a mess.

ignoring the devouring of marcus, sam meets the screaming and terrified rat on the other side of the truck. sam pulls his own shirt up to block his nose. the man's getting away and sam is contemplating. his gastly forms at his side and he looks to her and then to the man retreating.

"curse."

"n-no please, h-hey! no, wait!" panicked because of the mega glalie that he can now see eating marcus' body, having finished the pokémon off. he stumbles and falls backwards, his body suddenly enveloped in darkness. the CURSE causes him to scream in pain, gripping at himself shaking his head and writhing on the pavement.

sam looks to see if tartarus, his glalie, is finished. when she is, he returns his gastly, meg, and then also returns his glalie. the smog has cleared out by then, so he gets into the truck and takes a deep breath. his hands are shaking, he's enraged.

"the police vehicle was empty, the rat will die within five minutes." he looks to rickey. "shall we finish the job?"

knox prescott

a chill goes through him. his mind races. captain's useless unless he puts himself and sam at some distance from her. if they can scramble out of the car, she and blue can cause massive damage. but knox knows his father's tactics, knows how to work him. this is a warning, a check-in. nothing more.

he needs to be defiant, but not too cocky. he needs to cower, but not bow. 

and his father will be satisfied. he'll withdraw his men and let knox live in peace (as much as one can, knowing a shadow is haunting them at every turn), but that's enough for him. so he clicks his tongue and he's about to make a snide remark, draw just enough of a whine into his voice to make it seem like he's quaking. 

but then smoke curls and sam is grabbing him and there is a stone-cold look in his eyes that sends a shudder through knox. captain dives under his shirt and curls into a ball. knox fists the shirt against his nose, eyes wide, other hand reaching to grab sam, but he's out of the car, smoke pouring after him, wrapping around him. 

he can't see, but he can hear it. lena's frosted flowers for him before and he's snapped their stems, wondered at the sound it makes. and now he hears fracturing and breaking and his stomach rolls over itself. 

the passenger side door opens and his father's snake goes to make a run for it. the headlights illuminate his shadow as he goes around the front of the car - his silhouette shudders away from whatever sam is doing, and then the screaming starts. 

when it's over, knox is afraid. he's afraid of the boy next to him. because he sees the monster curled inside of him, pressing at the seams, hungry and malevolent. 

ricky's jaw is slack. he's white-faced, nodding at sam, fucking terrified. captain shivers against knox and he raises a hand over the lump where she hides under his shirt, draws her close. the car comes to life and they leave the frozen patch of road, already melting, behind them.

a muscle in knox's jaw flicks. he looks like an elastic band ready to snap. if sam goes to touch him, he'll flinch. 

samuel carter

☉

sam doesn't touch him though. he does what he always has to after a death. he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. the mantra in his head circles, over and over.

In the graveyard,
In the graveyard,
When the moon begins to shine,
There's a doctor, crazy doctor,
and his monster Frankenstein.
Oh, my monster,
oh, my monster,
oh, my monster Frankenstein,
you are very, very scary, don't come
near me Frankenstein.

by the end of it he was opening his eyes and looking out to the road. he was still confident in the decision he had made. he would not fall to that man again. he would not be afraid of him, and he was tired of seeing knox afraid of him.

he didn't glance back, but decided to give space. earlier they had spoken about him being this way and knox had promptly kissed him to change the subject.

sam knew what he had done. remembered how his mother reacted. how his mother, even to this day, doesn't look at him the same.

have i destroyed us?

his lip quivers at the thought, brows furrowed. he shifts, pulling the hoodie off and laying it on the middle console. for knox to take, should he want it. there was no stain, there was no evidence that sam had been in contact with anybody but knox, and rickey.

knox prescott

i made him a promise.

knox doesn't leave, not yet, but he does drift. he closes his eyes and he calculates that instance where it all went wrong. he thinks of all the different ways he could have stopped him, all the ways he could have saved them, and sam. 

but when he thinks his name, he doesn't see sam's face. he sees marcus'. sees him sideways, skin licked with sweat, lips pursed, face twisted in pleasure. he sees marcus holding his little sister, apologizing over and over again for bringing her, that their babysitter left them high and dry, and knox promising i won't tell my father. it's okay. 

the car rolls to a stop just outside petalburg. ricky's still white-faced, hands clenching the steering wheel. "go into town, get a drink, and then call a taxi, rick," knox says, voice a lot more calm, a lot more steady than he feels. 

ricky goes to fumble with his seatbelt, but knox reaches forward and puts a hand on his shoulder. "and don't you dare fucking tell anyone what you saw tonight." his gaze flickers up and in the rearview, he sees someone else with his same jaw, his same nose, a scar on his cheek. 

ricky leaves and the two of them are left alone. knox kicks open his door and shoulders the drawstring bag. then he puts a hand down on the roof of the car and stoops over to look at sam, eyes like ice. 

"stay here." he drops two pokeballs at his side and his feraligatr and greninja emerge to flank him. he hesitates and then puts the ball with sam's gardevoir on top of his folded hoodie. 

"i need you to stay here," he says again. then he slams the door and walks away. 

samuel carter

☉

eyes like ice.

stay here.

sam is the one who flinches when the door is slammed shut. he frowns, looks at his feet. he's made a mistake according to knox, but anything according to knox is what's important.

he looks at his hands, contemplates what he's done. he's had his pokémon eat a man and curse another to death in order to protect them... or perhaps selfishly to protect himself. to avoid more injury coming to knox. and it's the same as before, he helped knox or tried to and is being scolded.

why? why when he does what he thinks is right, is he reprimanded? he is pointedly not sorry, but it feels like he is supposed to apologize. but his mother always said to never apologize for being himself.

but what if i am monster, do i apologize then, mom?

moving to pull out his phone, he scrolls the messages and finds his mother. his finger hesitates, then he shakes his head and returns the phone to his pocket. he grips his pants and slams his eyes shut.

what if he doesn't come back? what if i've broken us?

anxiety and paranoia swirl within his mind and he swallows thickly, begging the stars to come back to him. his eyes close and he focuses on breathing.

what have i done? i've protected what i care about. but at what cost? what if he runs? he promised to come back.

and so the war wages, silently, within his head.

knox prescott

he sits on a park bench, drawstring bag replaced with a duffel bag. thousands in cash and he has it wide open for the world to see. he looks sideways down at it, moves aside some of the wads of bills and pulls out the baggie. 

'was told there'd be more a ya. anything we need to concern ourselves with?'

'last minute change of schedule. i'm enough.'

'well, it's a pleasure. it's all here; here's your money.'

'tell your boys to keep two grand. i'm buying.' 

red and blue and white and yellow pills of varying shapes and sizes roll around in the bag. he wraps it tightly, shifts on the bench, and shoves it into his back pocket. he grabs the bag of blow, still hard crystals, and puts that in his other. 

then he stands because he made a promise he intends to keep. it's a little over thirty minutes later that he's walking back to the car. he goes around to the driver's side and gets in. 

they have sam's gardevoir. they could teleport back home. but he backs up, shoulder twisted against the passenger seat's back, gaze hovering over sam's and out the back windshield so he can do a three-point. 

and then he drives. 

samuel carter

☉

thirty minutes of self torture. of self loathing. of confusion and fear. he's terrified, but the moment he hears footsteps, his whole body relaxes. it's sore, he was so tense when knox was gone. he didn't even realize it until hs shoulders had relaxed.

and knox is silent. he might have glanced sam's way, but like a dog that lashed out when it wasn't supposed to, sam is silent. he just stares at his hands, hands that have picked hang nails and caused small pools of blood around each cuticle. a nervous habit.

he didn't even realize he'd done it, which is concerning, but normal. then again, he thought commanding his glalie to eat threats was normal until knox pointed out that it really wasn't.

the silence makes him feel ill, he glances at knox, to his legs, to his hands on the wheel. they could teleport, yet they don't. he takes his gardevoir's ball while knox drives, and replaces it with his others.

he doesn't want to die but he suddenly understands why knox wants to be numb all the time. feelings suck.

knox prescott

it starts raining. slowly, at first - a few drops on the windshield that startle him every once in a while. but then the sky opens up and he has to turn the wipers on. captain clambers down his shoulder when he shakes her off and then curls up in the passenger seat. he rests a hand on her and then moves both back to the steering wheel. 

he's done this once before. he has picked himself apart and taken all the frayed pieces of him, tied them all together, and then nailed them down, covered them with a blanket. he thought he'd left those tortured months behind him. 

but eden's not here to pull him back out this time. 

he rolls his shoulders. "did you know every cell in the human body replaces itself? that in about seven years, you're almost an entirely new person?" he flexes his hands against the wheel. "i was in a hospital bed when someone told me that. that people can change."

he flicks the turn signal on, goes a roundabout way. he doesn't want to pass over that patch of mud.

"you took that chance, that choice, away from them." he's still stone-faced, lips a hard, flat line.

samuel carter

☉