For those who wanted to celebrate Christmas in dazzling style, Slateport City was the place to be. And, truly, Remiel could think of no better place for he and Illeana to go in an effort to take their minds off the events of the soirée. What seemed like all the glittering lights of the world, and Hoenn's largest Christmas tree to boot, was ample distraction as they explored the city hand-in-hand.

Garbed in a warm black coat, the royal looks over to see his date marveling at the sight of the wintry wonderland. He smiles, suppressing the ghost of Isra and the shadow of FERNANDO SILPH in his mind as he tries to simply live in the moment with Illeana. The reassuring squeeze his hand gives hers is a two-way street.

"What do you want to go and do first?" He asks, flanked by his LA REINE FURFROU, MARIA. The poodle escorts them through the snow-covered streets dutifully and alert, warily eyeing any Pokémon or person that comes too close. "I hear the shopping center has an ice-skating rink." He suggests as they stop at a red light.

---

⚠ mission: festive flirts

STARLIGHT + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]a squeezing pressure engulfs her fingers. it's warm, reassuring, and she's clutching to it for, perhaps, dear life.

there's shadows at their backs in the form of past and present lovers. they creep and stretch with long, bony fingers. and each step takes them mere inches out of those clutches...

how long is it until everything catches up to them?

she swallows at the thought. his smile is finally returned when her eyes drift back toward him as they always inevitably do.

"um," she hums, nose crinkling slightly in concentration. he's familiar with the expression; it's her thinking mode, after all. and as gears churn through possible activities, he supplies a suggestion with ease. her body gravitates a little closer to his own as his furfrou guides them through busy streets.

"ice skating sounds pretty fun." the smile widens. it falters, then, with a rising question. is that what he wants to do though? insecurity has bled crimson between them until all she sees is red. she had assumed she killed the remainders of her old self but... old habits die hard. and what is she supposed to do then?

in the end, the decision is left up to him when she doesn't voice her commitment. fitting...

Remiel Calcifet
mission

He's adept at ignoring and pushing things down. Drawing out things as long as he can because, hey, he's stubborn like that. But, eventually, it all catches up.

Perhaps the quick pace of their walk through the bustling streets of the Upper District reflects that. Thankfully, the multitude of lights that had recently been put up in the city seemed eager to distract. He doesn't even notice the uncertainty and doubt and worry painted plainly across her face.

"Yeah," He answers, tugging her along as they cross a street. "That sounds wonderful." Though in the back of his mind, he can still hear the Gartan mother's lullaby.

---

⚠ mission: festive flirts

STARLIGHT + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]they cross the street with ease. his hand in hers, lights glittering overhead. it's a pretty scene, romantic even. and yet, her feet are sluggish to follow him and her grip is loose against his fingers.

and god, she swears she sees green hair out of the corner of her eye with each passing body. green, pink, purple. it blends together into one nightmare, thought to be left behind in a hazy blur. when did they begin haunting her in the daylight? and when did she stop noticing?

"do you ice skate often?" comes quick, rushed out in an effort to draw herself back into him. it half works. for the most part, anyway. there's still a fidgeting way to her movements, to the way her eyes flicker at faces passing by.

and with each step, each glance, the gap grows wider.

Remiel Calcifet
mission

The question seems to fall on deaf ears. Given the low chatter of conversation around them and the occasional Pokémon cry, however, it's easy for Remiel to admit he hadn't heard. Though only after blinking out of his engrossed thoughts.

"Hm? I'm sorry, what did you say?" The lullaby had only grown louder in his head, calling him to search for its source. Where had he gone wrong? And why had he stopped looking? Cobalt hues slowly begin to shift away again as these, and many other, questions bog his mind.

Even his dog looks up and gives her master a worried whine. Would they keep moving forward soon?

STARLIGHT + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the concept of being ignored claws desperately at childhood wounds long thought deceased. it draws out an annoyed flush, pinking the tips of her ears further than the cold could.

and stubbornly, she lets the question die. it hangs on tension filling the air around them before quickly perishing into an open grave.

"oh, nothing."

she says nothing further on the subject, or any, for that matter. and as the snow crunches beneath her boots, she feels more like a child than ever before. transporting back in time to strolls down the streets of snowpoint is not something she wanted to do today. somehow, it's fitting of the occasion. she hasn't ice skated since she left home, anyway.

it was bound to be painful eventually.

his dog whines and her attention snaps away from terrifying ghosts and memories of a painful childhood mixing with horrible memories of purple mist and green hair. her eyes drop to the discolored dog and without thinking much of it, she drops his hand to pet his dog instead.

Remiel Calcifet
mission

Remiel notes the shift in her complexion, the warm reds contrasted brightly against the lightness of her skin and the white of the surrounding snow. Though certain Illeana had said something, however, his mental exhaustion keeps him from pursuing an answer. Instead, he wonders why he'd even come out tonight in the first place.

Where his counterpart might see glimpses of pink, purple, and green, here and there, the prince is overwhelmed with the number of women with long black hair and pale skin walking about. And they all come out to taunt him? And how many more lingered in the shadowy corners of the city? Taunting him for losing her? Scolding him for not doing more?

Strange faces seemed to distort in an attempt to mimic her. But they never quite reached their goal, instead settling on a hazy and ambiguous blurriness that left Remiel just as unsettled. What was he doing here? Why wasn't he out there, looking for her?

His dog's pleased yip snaps him out of such a flurry of anxious thoughts.

"Let's go." He says, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his long coat as he leads the way across the street and into the park where their ice skating awaits.

STARLIGHT + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]as time continues to ebb and flow between them, she finds herself growing... uncomfortable.

there's a tension she doesn't like. it's too big to ignore at this point. things are quickly dissolving and she's merely watching the ruins settle.

he shoves his hands into his pockets. ghosts continue to haunt in shadows and passing faces on the street. and his dog's pleased yip or the sensation of fur beneath her fingers does little to drag her out of the woods.

and maybe the monsters are just trees but right now... they seem so sinister.

her face falls as he steps forward and leads the way. she doesn't quite bother to pick up whatever pieces have since fallen, not willing to slice her fingers on the jagged edges after they've shattered across pavement.

"okay."

and she simply follows a few steps behind him as distance continues to grow.

Remiel Calcifet
mission

Sometime later...

Skate laces slip silently from his fingers and drop in curls on the floor below. He can't bring himself to do this. Not when she's still out there. And certainly when Illeana's loyalties lie with another more than he— a discomfort that's been gnawing away at him since long ago.

He knows he's letting his emotion get the better of him, and it's foolish. But if anything, the realization makes him angrier. He'd supposed to have mastered his emotions by now. They'd certainly done a lot to suppress the anxiety and despair of losing his first love mysteriously.  

So... why now? Why here?

The prince sighs, shifting pensive hues of cobalt blue over to his partner. They're sitting on a bench at the prep area for the skating rink. Only a few strangers occupy the same area at this point. The rest have slid off to hold hands and ice-skate, filling the chilly air with laughter and conversation: two things Remiel and Illeana hadn't quite experienced in some time now...

A blink of an eye in any other relationship, mind you. But a lifetime in what used to be theirs. It's the big Copperajah in the room, frankly, staring them in the eye at point-blank range. And he'd had enough.

"When do we stop with the pretending..."

STARLIGHT + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she hadn't even touched her shoe laces yet.

no... her mind is too distracted, muddled with thoughts and memories unable to stop haunting her in the daylight.

every couple on the ice somehow has green and black hair and a small bubble around them. she can't stop staring, eyes helplessly tracing the circles they draw around the rink.

and when she glances toward remiel, she swears she sees a flash of pink.

it makes her unfocused, eyes darting for the deity she no longer has. each time she comes up empty handed, hollow, hurt.

and at first, she doesn't hear the question.

it goes right through her, existing in a realm of ignorance until her mind rushes back to present times, to present company.

she blinks. and then blinks again.

"what?"

her body stills despite her mind not quite catching up. somehow, on a molecular level... her body knows what's happening before her mind or heart do.

and faintly, she begins to bleed a soft pink mist to combat the pain.

Remiel Calcifet
mission

Cobalt hues shift to glance in her direction, gauging the expression that pairs itself with her remark. Was she really confused? Was he really going to have to be the one to say it aloud and explain it? He certainly didn't need another reason to be labeled 'problematic'.

Though it was easy to tell this gap between them had split open from their respective traumas. It was written plainly across both their faces. It gleamed sorrowfully in their eyes when they didn't think anyone was looking.

"You're still thinking about him..." Not FERNANDO SILPH , no. As far as Remiel understood, he was just another distraction to Illeana. Just like himself. "And I can't keep my mind off of her." He adds with a sigh, bending down to remove the skates from his feet and place his leather shoes back on. Not until he found out what happened.

"It's not fair to either of us to continue like this... so I think we should just end it."

STARLIGHT + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]her body jolts as if startled.

and yet, the end had been coming. they had felt it creeping in like a persist fog. despite their best efforts, there is no way to successfully exorcise the memories of past loved ones. not when there's still so many what ifs and things left unsaid.

although perhaps, in some way, the same could be said for them.

"so that's it?"

she isn't sad. she isn't much of anything but damaged and scrambling to fill a void ripped back open by the star soiree. it's painful to touch, agonizing to even attempt to close up. she tried to write over the love found with FERNANDO SILPH as well and when neither man would give her the love or level of commitment she had lost, she kept trying and trying to make them fit the mold regardless.

it's, truly, exhausting.

"fine."

she turns, then, and undoes the laces she had been struggling to even finish tying. it's quick, as if she's rushing to give in to the flight sensation sending her body into overdrive. and somehow, despite herself, her eyes stubbornly begin to water.

Remiel Calcifet
mission

It wasn't fair to either of them to continue like this. Even the physical love, the sensuality that had burned between them like the blazing fires of Muspelheim, had been doused by this unhealthy concoction of mixed feelings and lingering regrets. He knew what she wanted, and had an idea of what she truly deserved...

But that came with knowing that he couldn't provide any of that⁠ in the here and now and wondering whether she was genuinely ready for any of it herself. So, in the end, he nods.

"That's it." He confirms.

He's finished lacing his shoes, hoping she understands as well as he. When he dares glance in her direction, he spots the telltale gleam of a tear catching the reflection of shimmering fairy lights above. And, suddenly, he feels like shit.

"I'm sorry..." He says, looking away.

Sorry he wasn't the man she'd hoped he'd be. Sorry he hadn't sought out closure for Isra sooner. Sorry he'd wasted this opportunity to find real love with her.

STARLIGHT + illeana reyes

☉