each time he gives beneath the soft voice of cait alfric he is left wondering and regretting. the first they had truly been isolated by themselves he swore it would be the last. the second was a risky dinner where again he implied the emphasis on them never meeting again.

yet here he was.

fira is what gives him a quick passage to mauville city. her flame is well perceived in the night but so obscured by other distant lights that none would pay much notice. the worn base—ball cap is an object that will keep him if not slightly obscured in identity.

"hey," the tone is just the same as before, "don't mention it." tanned fingers adjust the brink of the cap so his piercing eyes are revealed. though he doesn't expect the girl to be intimidated. she has faced him assuredly many times before.

it is the glaring expression of the charizard that may be another story. something that has almost permanently painted her features. when they move inside the beast will follow close behind. careful to keep the tail away from the eventual green.

cait alfric

jayde cross

they follow quietly and without a word. stepping into the gym is like stepping into home. the lush overgrowth of greenery envelops practically everything and yet, even in the darkness he can sense the harmony it brings. fira is certainly entranced by their surroundings despite the still bound furrow against her features.

"she can wait." jay says, passing his companion a glance before heading inside. there was a character to the interior of the small apartment. however that was not all there was. the appeal to certain objects is overlooked by the nearby pokemon. his cool gaze regarding the mutt with as much zeal it held itself.

just as nonchalantly he is facing the table. tanned fingers tuck firmly in-between the crook of his elbow; enfolding arms settled against the chest. "so..." speaking loudly enough for cait to hear, he continues when she is just a bit closer,

"who did you want me to meet?" those that were well aware of the danger behind him was the league. the rest might've been the few rocket members. other than that...he could only begin to imagine the implication behind this sudden call.

cait alfric

jayde cross

jay takes an immediate sip of the drink. refreshing given the time and luscious given the usual dull taste to his acquisitions. the cool taste allows him the moment to mull over her words.

looking towards the rigid creature with the same emotionless stare the word euthanized is a repetition within his mind. it reminds him why he hates humans. how he wishes he wasn't so.

"you want me to take him." it isn't a question. the leading to her soft voice is a simple statement. he stands up casually and approaches the crate. the muzzle makes him angry but then he thinks about cait. how her forthright tenderness had saved the life of something so innocent. "can you open it?" he asks, taking a glance back at the girl,

"let me get a better look at him." it is doubtful the pup is friendly. or maybe it just the cruelty it had faced that left such an impression.

he wanted to change that.

cait alfric

he regards the damage to her arm. the briefness of the marking beneath his golden eyes is just as quickly back on the crate. certainly the girl is not familiar of the true nature behind most mistreated creatures. the hateful guise they've been poised with simply because they are so broken. he understands it more than anything. even if the growling mutt does not yet understand itself.

jay fumbles with the latch. the opening brings an immediate attack from what is within. sharp claws tearing into the flesh of his forearm as blood follows close behind. splattering onto the surface of the floor. what has the hostility most surprised is that he appears unaffected. the same cold look pierces even the houndour; still it will not give up the defenses of its feeble growl and remains in the crate.

"you hate humans don't you?" the red is caught in the images obscured by mystery, "selfish and greedy creatures they are." visible fangs in the crevasse of the muzzle lessen slightly, "i hate them too." deciding not to press upon the subject, the houndour discovers something in those menacing eyes.

acceptance.

a human that has lost his heart or had it been a human that never once thought so? "if you come with me i will show you home...a place where you belong." the furrow is bound by the features of the mutt. it is similar to fira and the rest of his friends. perhaps just to themselves they had learnt how to smile. the apparently aggressive onslaught stretched forward sniffing at the bloody arm.

it offers a friendly lick.

cait alfric

jayde cross

there is no bother in changing the belief of the girl. pain is a distinct reminder to her caution. in the slight wound against his own arm; the stinging sensation allows him some insight into the fear quivering in her gentle voice. the object is taken without a word. it lingers before the mutt till the inward and silent decision allows the light to engulf its small form. click! — is the confirmation.

"cait," he says, still looking down at the pokeball, "maybe not today but someday this one will thank you...you've nothing to be sorry for." when he turns to glimpse her way, there is some life sparked in those brilliant eyes,

"you saved him after all." tucking the concealed threat into the depth of his pocket, he approached the table once more. the left hand, painted by an interesting marking is also the one torn by the claws. it seems unaffected by the discomfort of an open wound and continues to reach for the drink.

the heaviness of a sigh slips through.

"actually, i wanted to ask you something," awaiting the certainty of her curiosity, the huskiness of the voice would move onward, "is there anything you're looking for? something nobody else would believe unless they saw it?" he does not ask because he knows. he asks because he wants that sense of familiarity. somebody just like him, desperate to unravel what so many could not. either way — his idea of cait's lifestyle was just as much a mysterious as she thought of his own.

cait alfric

jayde cross

oblinging to the harmless request he would watch cait with the same steady gaze. eventually it lowers towards the smaller pair of hands, carefully treating the carve into his tanned flesh. now they both bore a reminder of this moment.

he doesn't expect an answer and listens onward in silence. maybe the depth of the tale was harder to question than he originally thought.

"not recently." he says, flashes of grey torn into the past. the unsteady object throttled against the blue. "when i was just a kid i ran away from home. i wanted to sail across the world and see the beautiful ocean." there is distinct tenderness to the usually rough tone. "halfway into that journey there was a terrible storm. the boat couldn't withstand it and it tipped into the waters." he pauses to mull over the next, "everyone drowned that day. i should have too." the golden orbs are concealed by the descent of the lashes.

"but i was saved...by lugia."

cait alfric

jayde cross

startle is apparent but not worthy of a voice. the rarity in their appearances are so slim that he does not mind if the girl believes him or not. it could've been akin to speaking the truth of the dead. what lay beneath the heaviness of the blue drifted onward as a children's tale.

"just one person," never going into the sliver of every detail, he continues, "johto is where it brought me." his expressions twists into one of malice and confusion. the cool substance oozing into the lining of the mark is only marginally settling. momentary silence allows his thoughts to ease. it isn't like him to reveal so much.

"listen..." the sigh is just as weighty as her previous one, "i'm not telling you this for no reason. i've been searching for that thing since the day it left me. it was my friend and—" he pauses, staring into the veil of her ivy strands, "—i want answers. even if it costs my life." shortly advised; jayde didn't want her to worry of the stillness of what would be disappearance. or in truth. an eventual ending.

cait alfric