"Come along, loves."

Although Barnaby encouraged his two NINETALES along, they truly needed no goading. The pair loved any opportunity to stretch their legs and get outside the hubbub of Mauville City, where these excursions were usually limited to urban parks.

Here, in the pristine wilderness of Petalburg Woods, they could grasp at the illusive memory of being truly wild once again. Their footfalls were deft and deliberate as they navigated the small trail ahead of them, casting very little noise into the surrounding woods. The goal today was to enjoy nature, not disturb it.

Even as they crested a hill and the path took a turn, careening along a steep embankment at the bottom of which was a round, open meadow, still the group remained relatively silent. Thick stands of trees obscured Barnaby's view, which wasn't an issue until the voice of... someone came to him, carried on the wind.

Stepping closer to the edge of the drop-off, Barnaby peered downward and saw... none other than Elisabeth Fiorelli herself, sitting quaintly by a stream, enjoying the mid-afternoon weather with her Pokémon.

Instead of immediately calling out, something inside Barnaby made him pause. Was it the way she so jovially catered to her Pokémon? The carefree smile upon her lips? The look of undisturbed bliss on her face as she hummed, glancing skyward to the rolling clouds above?

Leaning back against the trunk of a tree, he observed her for awhile. This was not an Elisa he had ever seen before. Which, he realized, he'd thought to himself quite often during their last few encounters.

How many layers did this woman have to her?

Finally, Barnaby felt pressed enough to announce his presence from on high. With a booming, amused timbre he yelled out, "Enjoying your picnic, Elisa?"

Elisabeth Fiorelli

gracidea #2

☉

"Or perhaps you merely have nothing better to do than to interrupt me on my time off?"

The cheek on this one. On every encounter she played the part of reluctant, simmering beauty so well. But Barnaby knew better than to take Elisabeth Fiorelli at face value.

"Simple serendipity, my Lady. We're fated, you and I." He laughed then, bright and echoing into the meadow below.

At her invitation, however, he retrieved a capsule from his pocket, releasing a RALTS that was sure to be familiar to her. With a simple command Barnaby was Teleported exactly where he needed to be: beside Elisa's checkered picnic blanket and her accompanying Pokémon. The RALTS was returned to it's ball, while both Sybille and Odette deftly picked their way down the embankment. Soon enough, the girls were once again by his side.

"Your kindness knows no bounds. Thank you for the invitation."

With that, he unceremoniously reclined beside her, a wry smile on his lips. The foxes followed, intrigued by the woman so close to their master. Cold noses sniffed at her clothes, her hair, her feminine hands. Barnaby looked on, enjoying the view, both in front and around him.

"Quite the beautiful spot you've picked out for yourself, Elisa."

Elisabeth Fiorelli

gracidea #2

☉

He watched, and he smiled, and he appreciated. Appreciated Elisa's lilting laugh, her effortless charm, the way she so delicately withdrew her body inwards away from curious noses.

"Come now, loves. Leave the pretty lady alone." Barnaby chided, a teasing smirk on his lips.

The NINETALES obeyed, of course, but instead of ringing around him the pair simply laid down on the spot. Their luxurious tails naturally tucked in toward their bodies, but with Elisa so close they simply wrapped around her instead - offering a cozy, furred covering.

Just as he was about to speak up, Elisa's VIVILLON drifted over to him. With a plink the crumb hit him square in the forehead, making Barnaby flinch slightly. His face fell, mock-annoyed.

"Yes, Petal, don't be rude." He echoed, shooing the bug away with a lazy wave of his hand.

Eventually the VIVILLON took the hint and buzzed off long enough for Barnaby to hear Elisa's proclamation of love and her follow-up question.

"Something like that. I enjoy venturing into nature every once and awhile, just for the sake of it." Versus when he was tasked to for his various workplace obligations. "But today... well, I was actually scouting out a good place to plant some special seeds I purchased."

He patted a coat pocket where a small packet was hidden away.

"Gracidea seeds. Perhaps our resident florist has heard of them?"

Elisabeth Fiorelli

gracidea #2

☉

It was with inward delight that he watched Elisa react so giddily to his two beautiful foxes. They were some of his closest companions, after all, and deserved all the reverence in the world. Outwardly, he simply smiled an easy, contended smile.

"They do. Feel free to pet them if you'd like."

A beckoning touch pulled his attention away. Glancing down, Barnaby was greeted with a sweet gift courtesy of Elisa's BELLOSSOM. Not wanting to reveal the little secret exchange, he simply nodded and accepted the gift without much fuss.

"What am I grateful for?" He echoed, idly munching on the honey tart. Barnaby's gaze was cast toward the babbling stream, his voice sounding rather bored as he answered, "Hmm. Most recently? My friendship with you, I suppose."

He looked out of the corner of his eye, curious of her reaction.

"What about you, Elisa?"

Elisabeth Fiorelli

gracidea #2

☉

Sybille, normally reserved and poised unless with her better half (Bijou the Alolan NINETALES), had seen enough. Her jealously got the better of her and with an insistent paw, she lightly pushed the side of Elisa's thigh - obviously vying for the woman's attention. Odette ignored the other NINETALES, instead lapping up all the attention Elisa was willing to give.

Barnaby continued to watch the trio with an amused smirk, content to see his foxes interacting in such a picturesque place, with such picturesque company.

"It has great promise." Like a prophet envisioning some grand future, Barnaby's tone took on a hopeful lilt. "I'm grateful for that. Just the hint of something wonderful."

A lasting friendship. Were they destined for something so elusive?

"In all seriousness, though, I do enjoy your company. I'd like to continue seeing you, if that's alright?" He left it up to her. After all, he'd been persistent in crossing her boundaries these last few months on purpose. He made his intentions clear from the start. Would Elisabeth Fiorelli turn his efforts down in the moment?

"What am I grateful for? My freedom, I suppose."

"Freedom implies escape." Barnaby responded, just as quietly. He'd grown serious in the seconds since his earlier statements. "What have you escaped from, Miss Fiorelli?"

Elisabeth Fiorelli

gracidea #2

☉

The two beautiful foxes, mirrored images of one another encircled around Elisabeth Fiorelli, were both purring contentedly by this point. Sybille's petulant insistence had paid off, while Odette was simply lapping up the attention from the get-go.

Barnaby continued to look on, savoring the sight, even as Elisa spoke of things that did not suit the picturesque scene before him.

No friends? For ten years? Idly, he recalled that the woman's marriage had lasted about that length of time...

As she continued, he made a mental note to commit her words to memory. Elisabeth had never let him in in this way before, never opened up about enemies and rivals and traitors. Barnaby had a vague understanding of the privileges and restrictions that came with having a royal station, but it was obviously more harrowing than he first realized.

"The world is cruel, and unfeeling, and filled with monsters."

This statement left him feeling quite sad for her. What had she endured to become so cynical? Barnaby was tempted to comment on it, but instead allowed her to finish.

She ended on a question, which he didn't immediately respond to. A heavy silence filled the space between them for a moment, left hanging as Barnaby collected his thoughts.

“You were born a lamb. Soft, beautiful, privileged. It’s a shame life has twisted you so.” Flashes of their dangerous encounter with the EMBOAR came to mind; of the myriad scratches that were just beginning to fade on his forearms, of the sound of Elisabeth's terrified screams... the urge to reach out, to touch her with a comforting hand, almost overtakes him.

But, Barnaby stopped himself. He knew she detested the feeling of being touched.

“However, I don’t dislike who you’ve become, Elisabeth. From what I've seen, you are strong. Fierce. Determined. Still beautiful, of course.” A lighthearted smirk cracked his serious façade, if only to ease the mood. “Many good qualities have developed from your tragedy… whatever that may be.”

He didn’t press for details, didn’t badger for an explanation. If she wanted to, she would have told him outright. Instead, he delved into his own story.

“I was born a wolf.” He looked away then, toward the water; watched Primrose by the shoreline, kicking pebbles in silent protest. If Elisa looked closely, she'd notice that Barnaby's eyes had taken on a cold, predatory glint.

“I didn’t have a choice.” He kept it there, for now. Vague, and yet pointed enough for assumptions to be made.

Elisabeth Fiorelli

gracidea #2

☉

His gaze had been purposefully diverted from her; instead, Barnaby had chosen something neutral to look at in the distance. The faint flow of the river, the swaying of the grasses on the far bank, anything to distract from divulging too much, too soon.

Her shifting body snapped his attention back to center stage, however, where Elisabeth Fiorelli now leaned over him. She was half an armlengths away, nearer than she had ever willingly been before. Close enough that the subtle floral tones of her perfume wafted toward him, tantalizing and appetizing all at once.

"Now that is quite strange." Barnaby's usual teasing lilt came crawling back, his serious demeanor cast aside for now.

"How dangerous of you, Elisa." He replied, smiling that puckish smile of his as he met those captivating blue eyes of hers. "Consorting with wolves."

It still defied logic that such a privileged woman, brought up in nobility and with all the promise in the world, had chosen to cage herself within the iron confines of TEAM ROCKET.

If this was the life she had chosen, what had been her previous reality? Her remark about resentment and lambs was telling. Barnaby decided not to comment on that, however...

"Regardless of how we both came here... I feel like I belong in this world of wolves, with you."

This did warrant verbal acknowledgement. He watched her carefully, noticing her distraction, and the fallen curls, before responding.

"I'm not sorry either," Slowly, gently, he brought a hand up toward the side of Elisa's face, an index finger slightly extended from the rest. He paused there for a moment, allowing her time to pull away if she wanted to, before tucking a blonde curl behind her ear.

"In fact, I'm rather happy we did."

Elisabeth Fiorelli

gracidea #2

☉