Soft footfalls carry her swiftly across the beaten path. Fallen leaves crunch beneath her sneakers but she can't hear it above the music blasting in her ears. She adjusts the earbuds along the way, exhaling softly. Fingers brush against her ball cap as she tightens it against her head.

In her peripherals, she sees someone. Lips move on a face so familiar, but dread fills her and she stumbles mid-step, her jog coming to an abrupt halt. She considers plucking the earbuds out, stopping to greet him. But another part of her remembers the trauma, the fighting, the anger, the pain.

"You're really gonna show your face here, knowing that I spend time jogging here?"

Her tone is accusatory and mean, thrown with the intention to hurt.

CIAN MAHER

☉

internally, he could only sigh. wait, not even internally, because he actually sighs the moment he hears her voice pipe up.

"just our luck..."

his gaze shifts away from his castform, finding hers as he stands back up, basket still in hand.

"uh, i always pick my berries here, and i was here first, so."

to prove his point, he pulls out a berry.

"want one?"

Spencer Hale
mission

☉

Spencer's face reflects her disgust. The last time they'd spoken had been with sharp words and less than stellar representations of their true selves.

Or maybe it had been exactly who they were for the first time.

Its why his response hurts so much even though she'd expected it, even encouraged it.

He hated her. And she deserved his scorn.

"Ew, no. You haven't even washed it. There could be like... bug poop on it or something. "

But the fact he'd even offered catches her off guard. Feelings of nostalgia creep up in the back of her mind, and try as she might to drown them, they keep resurfacing.

CIAN MAHER

☉

"bug poop?"

briefly, he rotates the berry around, gazing at it from all directions.

"good. it's probably what you deserve."

then he drops the berry back into his basket. he was never going to give it to her, really, he just wanted the satisfaction of denying her something she wanted.

it's then that his castform floats out of the bush, and instead of minding his own business, he floats on over to greet her.

Spencer Hale
mission

☉

Shock is displayed briefly across her features, stealing the spotlight from the garish scar that streaks her face. It tickles her cheeks a rosy pink, though the cool breeze might be the culprit.

"You're an asshole."

She hadn't wanted the berry, but now that he'd rejected his offer, she did. Spencer glances between him and his basket before looking away, exasperated and annoyed. It was hard to imagine that at some point, her entire world had revolved around him.

Embarrassment encourages her to start to walk away, but the man's Castform stops her. It doesn't seem familiar, and out of the goodness of her heart she stops to let it greet her.

In a sickeningly sweet singsong voice, she wiggles her fingers at it and gushes:

"Oh, aren't you super cuuute~ I'm so sorry you have to live with such a self-centered prick like Ciannnn~"

CIAN MAHER

☉

you're an asshole.

he is, and he'll wear that honor like a fucking badge to the end of his days. a part of him knows she doesn't deserve this, though, but that part's being overpowered by all else.

self-centered.

"his name's cian junior."

she has a point.

"cian junior, come on. let's leave."

but the castform stays right where he wants to. he floats forward to bump his body against her finger, giggling as he does so.

Spencer Hale
mission

☉

They both made mistakes, some bigger than others, some deserved and some not.

She had a lot to make up for, too, that she refused to because of ego and stubbornness and fear of losing control.

"Cian junior? I'd ask if you're joking but clearly..."

The self-centered thing was really on the nose now, wasn't it?

"Huh, maybe he really doesn't like you. Can't blame him with a name like that."

Even as she says this, though, the knife twists in her gut. Memories rise to the surface that she's long since tried to bury. She avoids looking right at him for fear her heart may soften.

Instead, Spencer focuses on the Castform, wiggling her finger more to tickle the little man whenever he bumps against her. She should leave, but her feet seem glued to the spot.

CIAN MAHER

☉

he should leave as well, but it seems like his feet are also glued to the spot. though he breaks free, approaching with an air of caution.

"cian junior is a great name."

but his insecurities get the better of him, as they always seem to do when around her. because of her, he might argue.

castform puffs out his cheeks that look like pouches full of coin.

"what do you think he should be named?"

Spencer Hale
mission

☉

Drawn to one another like magnets, unable to deny the push and pull, stuck in each others orbit. That's what it felt like, watchin him step aside and yet still remain.

It worsens the redness in her face, and she adjusts her cap to throw shadow over her features.

"Junior."

She swallows, feelings of frustration and confusion bubbling to the surface for a moment at his question. When had he ever cared what she thought? Why was he asking her that?

"Just Junior. It suits him."

In response to the Castform's puffed out cheeks, she does the same, as well as a brief game of peek-a-boo behind her hands.

CIAN MAHER

☉

"junior."

it's not a bad name to be fair but circumstances influence his perception of it. still, the castform seems to appreciate it, nodding his head as he ducks below her hands in an attempt to hide.

"i guess it does. when did you start having good ideas?"

in a turn of events, it's his castform that shoots him a glare. he sighs in response, head lowering slightly.

"i'll try and be nice."

Spencer Hale
mission

☉

"Mhmm."

She responds automatically, an affirmation despite her preoccupied state entertaining the adorable Castform. When her hands open up for her to gasp quietly: "peek-a-boo!", the little Pokemon ducks beneath them to hide beneath her hands. She smiles.

"I've always had good ideas, you just never stuck around to listen to them."

Spencer glances at him cautiously, though her eyes reflect the hurt. She swallows, looks away, back to the Castform to keep distracting herself. Familiar feelings crop back up and threaten to swallow her.

"You used to be nice."

CIAN MAHER

☉

"yeah? i wonder what happened."

it's selfish of him to pin all the blame on her when he shares some of it. he thought he'd accepted as much but seeing her again just brings out the worst in him. now, in her presence, it's easier to blame and deflect than it is to accept.

he sighs, attempting to calm himself.

"you still running competitively?"

Spencer Hale
mission

☉

Agitation crawls across the surface of her skin. She frowns visibly, creases forming between her brows. It makes her look older, and stressed.

"I wonder."

This was probably the most they'd spoken to each other in months, maybe even in the final moments of their relationship. What happened?

He sighs, she bristles, they replay the same sad story.

"No. Are you seeing anyone?"

CIAN MAHER

☉