bo gave a nod and a pressed smile, despite the way his eyes squinted with bewilderment at her. wasn’t she like, queen of hell or something? maybe it wasn’t so weird after all, considering.

“if it works for you. walks at night are nice, i’ll agree.” then the corner of his mouth teased with a good-natured smirk. “hope it works out better for other people most of the time, though.”

he finished with the glass and raised, moving the bucket over to the door and then grabbing a couple of trash bags from under the sink; and a roll of tape from a junk drawer.

“uh… i’d offer you a drink, but all i have is charja-cola passho plus+ and water. i mean, i’m still offering, if you’d like something...”

Katherine Fairburne

☉

despite what some might presume, katherine was still the same person she was prior to being crowned by the devil. she hadn't changed. she didn't turn more sinister or suddenly grew to love the night's darkness, however, her condition certainly attributed to how more... extreme she was. how she felt about particular things.
[break][break]
well, both that and the belief that she was granted immortality by the renegade god itself.
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”usually,” the resurfacing of her smile feels familiar. maybe even slightly anticipated. ”not always though.”
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but she only ever happened to scare someone like this due to work and other obligations. It wasn’t often that her pokemon pulled a stunt like this. ”some water would be great,” her eyes wander in the room, searching for a clock. how late even was it? How long had she been ruining poor bo’s sleep?
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“don’t you have work or something in the morning?” what a low-key way to ask ‘what do you do for a living’. she was a little noisy, wasn’t she? “the two of us should probably go,” her and trent, obviously.
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“you can probably still sleep a little. i don’t want to ruin that for you.” that, and she also doesn't want to loiter in a house she wasn't invited into for too long. technically, she was still sort of invading it.

[attr="class","ooc"] boruta maher [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

not always. clearly. he smirked, somewhat glad to be the exception. nothing exciting ever seemed to happen lately except terrible things involving his family. this was a much-needed curveball. fuck the window.

as she looked around, she might find the clock on the oven reading an odd time; never reset after a recent power outage.

water. “you got it.”

he went over and pulled the fridge door ajar, leaning in to retrieve two bottles of water.

“nope. it’s my day off tomorrow, actually.”

at the idea of her ruining his sleep, or continuing to, he shook his head at her, teeth grinning. “oh, i’m awake now. i don’t think i’m goin’ back to sleep after that—but seriously, it’s okay.”

a bottle was held out, and his golden eyes looked towards hers again.

“do you ever like company on your spooky midnight strolls through rustboro?”

Katherine Fairburne

☉

reluctantly, katherine nods as she takes the offered bottle from bo. it wasn’t often that she apologized, and the number of times she’s said ‘sorry’ this night certainly exceeded her precious record.
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and once that dawns upon her, she decides not to care anymore. or at least not as much. if bo insisted that it was fine, then it probably was. “it depends.” her eyes shift from bo to her pixie-dust covered partner and then back.
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“i need you to swear you won’t smash any windows.”
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would he?
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she twists the cap of the bottle, opening it so she could steal a sip before they go on their merry way.
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"is there a place worth going to in rustboro? i mean, at this hour." a moment. a breath. and then she continues. "a pretty place without too many stones or rocks."
[break][break]
in other words, not a cave.

[attr="class","ooc"] boruta maher [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

half of him hadn’t expected her to take him up on his  offer. he raised a brow raised down at the whimsicott then, smile curling into a smirk as he wondered just how well-behaved it really was.

a place worth going to. caught off guard by the blatant distaste for his hometown, he hiccupped a laugh. she was valid enough, though.

“what, don’t think rocks are pretty?” because they were! he shook his head, clicking his tongue and then thinking aloud. “we could go up on a rooftop, but the stars usually aren’t great most spots because of the factory…”

“there’s uh, the waterfront…”

quickly running low on ideas, he bit his lip lightly.

“and there’s a pretty nice fountain a few blocks down, in front of the pokémon trainer’s school.” it had a couple of lights on it at night, illuminating the reflections across the stone beautifully.

Katherine Fairburne

☉

“they all look the same to me. why, do you like them?”
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she almost dares to ask ‘how’, but considering that this was rustboro city… that might be considered an insult. ”stars are cute, but…” they, too, suffered from the same issue as rocks and stones did. they looked the same to her.
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“wait. a fountain?”
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she either missed it or happened to not reach that part of the town. either way, bo piqued her interest. ”that sounds cool. we should go there.” one could argue that most lakes, rivers, and even waterfalls all looked the same as well - and maybe they did - but they imparted a sense of serenity that made katherine feel better.
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side by side, with trent floating by her side and kabuto perhaps sticking close to bo’s, they walk.
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“so…”
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”why rustboro? i mean, you seem more like the slateport type. this city feels… old. or, well, tired. do you like it?”

[attr="class","ooc"] boruta maher [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“yeah, rocks are pretty cool.” he smiled and shrugged. “they’re not all boring, y’know. a lot of them are really beautiful. but, guess i can see your point about the ones here.”

having lived in rustboro all his life, bo was well aware that not everyone enjoyed its unique charm and antiquity. it was an ironic place, really, considering all its industry. in the end, he still preferred it to towering concrete. he had strong lungs, and the smog didn’t bother him much. and, he liked rocks.

her interest piqued at the fountain, and he was happy to have suggested something worthy.

“okay. there we’ll go, then.”

the kabuto didn’t end up joining them, because it ran away if it got out. instead, it was confined to the house. the pokémon that did end up joining them was a kubfu, still nameless, but clearly familiar and mindful enough of his trainer. the small bear watched trent as he floated along.

“i dunno. i grew up here; never left. not sure if i will, honestly.” he looked over at her curiously a moment, but his gaze returned to their shadows across the ground. “the slateport type, huh? never heard that before.” was it his look? he didn't ask. he'd rather talk about her.

“so... you don't come here for the scenery, then, i take it?” a way of asking what she was here for without asking.

Katherine Fairburne

☉

“Mmhm. definitely.”
[break][break]
He looked like the type who’d go clubbing every night only to wake up and show up at work with a terrible hangover. It would have sounded judgemental if she shared her reasoning, but thankfully, she’s polite enough to keep it for herself. Besides, it wasn’t like she saw anything wrong with that type.
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If anything, appearing this way is what made Bo so interesting in her eyes to begin with. Well, that, and also not being attacked after breaking into his home. That also contributed.
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“Oh, no. I am only in Rustboro because I had a shoot earlier.”
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Campaigns for the AQUA Initiative usually kept the elite four traveling around the region when she wasn’t doing her usual boring, day-to-day work. She missed Rocket in part because of this— the lack of adrenaline made her feel almost groggy.
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But tonight was different, thanks to Trent’s accident.
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”I dunno if I could ever stay in one place for too long. I think I’d get bored too quickly.” From her hometown, to Slateport, to Mauville, and now back to Slateport. If there was one thing Katherine was used to, then it was not laying down roots in a place.
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”Mm. Honestly, I traveled outside of the region for the first time this year, and it showed me just how much more there is out there. But, I mean, the same applies to Hoenn, you know?” Visiting Slateport or Sootopolis or any other city is not enough to learn about all the secrets they hold. You have to live there— you have to live the city itself.

[attr="class","ooc"] boruta maher [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

she sounded so decisive. he decided he’d need to ask his brothers what they thought about this. maybe he’d just be vague on the source.

a shoot. the most attention bo had ever gotten in his life had been at the end of hst. being in the media for placing in the ultra cup had made him quickly realize he liked being well out of the spotlight.

“ah. that stuff sounds like a lot.” like, stressful.

he walked with his hands in his pockets and leisurely strides, listening and looking over occasionally. it would be a few blocks still before they reached the fountain.

of getting bored, he nodded lightly. “that’s fair.” bo didn’t feel like he needed to see much else. he needed to be around for his family. besides, he tended to get enough daily travel with his job. while being captain of rustboro, sometimes missions called for aid in cities all across the region.

“i’ve never been out of the region, but i do get out sometimes. i’m a ranger, so work sends me to a lot of different places if there’s a big enough problem.” even if those places were usually outside of the cities themselves.

“where’d you go?” he wondered. “when you went out of the region, i mean.”

Katherine Fairburne

☉

“Mm… Yeah, I suppose it is. But not the way you’d expect it to be. It’s just very time-consuming. I mean, hair and makeup take way too much time, but some people… Enjoy it?”
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Although Katherine absolutely lavished the fame that her job brought alone, there were certain obligations she cared a bit less about. Posing for hours just wasn’t her thing. The only redeeming quality these jobs had for themselves was that she got to keep some of the clothes, sometimes.
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It made such torment ever so slightly bearable.
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“Being a ranger sounds like fun. A lot of the people I work with now also started as rangers.” She stops for a moment, halting in her tracks as she examines Bo from head to toe for what feels like the first time today. The streetlights definitely helped way more than the dim lights in his apartment did.
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”How good are you at battling? You know, we are looking for a fourth member for the elite four… You have the look already, and I bet we can work on your skills.”
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Or, well, they were searching for a fourth member. But now, Kazimir Wynter was about to join their ranks. It's just that no one bothered to warn her about it. “Sinnoh. It wasn’t really business-related, but I did an exhibition match in Snowpoint City’s gym. It was fun.” She kind of wanted to do it again, in all seriousness. Convincing FERNANDO SILPH to travel with her might prove to be difficult, but she could think of a reason to coerce him into doing it.
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“Alola also sounds like it could be fun to visit. It practically has 'the perfect vacation spot' written all over itself, y'know?“

[attr="class","ooc"] boruta maher [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

while vanity ran amuck in the world, it had never quite sullied bo’s psyche. he secretly longed to impress the league, as though it might reinject him with a greater sense of worth, but he would never be a diva. “couldn’t be me.”

he looked over curiously when her shadow halted on the stone path below. the question elicited the rise of his dark brows. so, this was how the elite four scouted their talent? looks first? it was almost a little disenchanting.

almost.

“oh. well uh.. decent..” a hand went up to run briefly through his hair, wondering which direction it was sticking up in. “i did place in the ultra cup, in the star tournament.” right after Raziel Beckett . he smirked at the thought, proud of him. he hadn’t been surprised.

when they were back to walking, bo looked up ahead to see the reflections of water dancing across stone. they were close.

“yeah, i could go to alola. visit some beaches i don’t get dispatched to.” his eyes shifted over with a smirk. “hey, maybe when you get me into the elite four, we could go check it out.” bold, he noted late.

Katherine Fairburne

☉

“Decent is good. We can probably work with that.”
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Katherine says ‘we’, knowing full well that if it ever came down to it, she’d just let Kyle handle the training by himself. He was the champion, after all. It made the most sense.
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“Did you? That's impressive. I heard the competition was stiff,” well, some of it. She could think of a few trainers that didn’t give it their all despite everything. Perhaps the results would have looked different if they put an effort into the tournament. Perhaps not, too.
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“oh?”
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A smirk tugs along her lips.
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”Dunno if it’s a good idea to admit that you’d like to see someone who broke into your house in a swimsuit, but…” she’s smiling, still. ”you’d probably make alola more fun either way.” If only initiating someone into the most prestigious and totally-not-constantly-changing group of elite trainers in Hoenn was that easy.
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Her eyes break away from Bo only at the sight of the fountain, drawing her attention easily. Katherine loses herself momentarily in the moon’s reflection. The flowing ripples are almost hypnotic.
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Almost.
[break][break]
Her eyes do drift back to Bo, now with the slightest glimmer apparent in them.
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The fountain was worth it.

[attr="class","ooc"] boruta maher [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

bo chuckled. he was better than decent, but he was humble—and guilty. a force that had been kept under wraps due to the damage it had been used to cause and inflict. his crimes, still looming, cold and unresolved.

”yeah, a few of ‘em definitely gave me a run for my money.”

at the swimsuit comment, bo’s face broke into a startled grin. she’d really taken that and run with it, hadn’t she? ”i like to think i’m pretty fun.” he laughed, and his eyes traveled toward the fountain. ”i’ve been told i don’t look too bad in swim trunks either, so…”

they’d soon made it to the fountain, and he appreciated the glow of it as it rippled down the rocks around them. kubfu went over, climbing the stones that encircled the pool and gazing down into it.

when bo looked back to katherine, he found the moon glittering in her crimson eyes. he wasn’t sure if it was beautiful or ominous somehow. both, maybe.

”what do you think?”

Katherine Fairburne

☉