[attr="class","littlejay"]no matter how many times he sees it, it doesn't make it easier to bear. his eyes lift as he sees his mentor Cillian Quinn approaching, the unmistakable miasma swirling around his frame. if jayden ever had once second-guessed his mentor's power, there would be no mistaking it now.

[break][break] fortunately, as with rocket, jayden's loyalty and trust had always lied in the blond. even since the beginning.

[break][break] he dips his head. even though they're old friends, there's still a matter of respect that's necessary here. "thank you," he says. not that jayden's safe return had really much to do with him — there were few that wanted to go head-to-toe with a man like Calem Pollet , after all. "and thanks to enforcer pollet, as well." he doubted it was just luck that the red-headed man had been the one to retrieve him.

[break][break] in a hand, he offers a cup of coffee that he had taken from a nearby cafe.

[break][break] "well." at least as well as a war-torn state could be. "knox and a few others asked for you." his head tilts as he remembers the superiors that he was stationed with. even though it'd been years, few could forget the imprint that gavin merlino left on kanto's map.

[break][break] "i hear hoenn's not been so well?" it's the understatement of the year, considering all that had transpired since his departure. but that was from the reports — he wanted to hear it from a rocket executive himself.

[break][break] as they walk into the yawning space, jayden's gaze drifts upwards. the tree of life has grown tenfold since he had last seen it, and his eyes can't help but fixate on the leaves that stretch wide above them. he is careful to re-direct his gaze, however, downwards.

[break][break] to the crystal blooms themselves. the reason why they're here.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] + mission: crystals in bloom

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[attr="class","littlejay"] gavin's surprise is reflected in his own. perhaps it's his trust in rocket — no, it's his trust in gavin. he simply assumes that most things go through rocket's chain of command. though perhaps, Calem Pollet had taken things into his own hands.

[break][break] it wouldn't surprise him. he and jayden's father had been close, after all.

[break][break] "yes," he nodded. even if jayden had wanted to stay in kanto... it would have been hard to refuse a man such as Calem Pollet .

[break][break] his head tilts as his mentor asks of the other. unlike gavin, jayden had never been particularly close with either but... "nothing detailed," he says, pursing his lips together. "though i do believe that wolfe is doing well." he's read the reports of her, after all,

[break][break] they walk into the tree, and the news his mentor offers surprises him. well, only a little. jayden had his own source of intel too, after all. there are a lot that he could ask about but jayden decides to tackle the most important.

[break][break] "kill you?" he echoes. there's something tense and stern in his place. "... are you okay?" jayden is sure that his mentor knows — he'd be willing to give his own life for his in a heartbeat. it only required an ask.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] + mission: crystals in bloom

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[attr="class","littlejay"] 'do i look dead?'

[break][break] despite himself, his jaw clenches. there are a lot of things that were buried away when he'd been at kanto. part of it was the effect of kanto, the war-torn region that had undoubtedly allowed him to bury all of the feelings that he'd discovered in a place like hoenn, which had once been a place for new beginnings.

[break][break] now, it just seemed to be a place for endings.

[break][break] "apologies." his throat is thick. "i heard about..." chu-e. "underboss choi." jayden had long lost the right to call him by his first name — if he'd ever had the right in the first place.

[break][break] he was glad for the change in topic though, and grabbed onto it like a lifeline. "ah, yes. the devices." he'd kept it with him all this time. unlike the charm he'd once had that had been stolen from his things in the sub. "i actually found another one when i'd returned to my room in the sub to clear out my things for my move." a pause. "they're peculiar things, aren't they?"

[break][break] jayden's own umbreon stands at attention just next to his mentor's riolu, her bright blue pattern sparking bright against the crystallized flora. the rocket is quick to pause the conversation to walk over to them, fingers brushing against one of the petals with a fingertip. "they didn't have these in kanto."

[break][break] at least, not any that he'd come across.

[attr="class","ooc"] + mission: crystals in bloom

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[attr="class","littlejay"] His fingers close into a fist, knuckle-white. Despite himself, he can't help the bile that rises to his throat. Matias Silph. He'd met the man a few times before and the interactions had been pleasant but —

[break][break] Blood for blood. There was no other way.

[break][break] The distraction was a grateful reprieve, and Jayden felt his heartbeat responding to it's normal pace. He kneels against the floor, fingers reaching for the petal until his mentor admonishes him. "Ah. Sorry — I couldn't help myself." An unusual thing for Jayden who was ordinarily so restrained.

[break][break] He unfolds from the ground, letting Cillian Quinn snap photos. "Should we collect some? Perhaps Raphael Pryde can use them in his laboratory."

[break][break] He'd been meaning to meet the man that was like an uncle to him, anyways.

[attr="class","ooc"] + mission: crystals in bloom

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[attr="class","littlejay"] "I —"

[break][break] 'Was it?'

[break][break] He considers it for a moment, lips pressed together. He stares down at his fingers, just a breath-away from the flora, and then the crystallized petals. They catch the sunlight with a brilliant shimmer.

[break][break] Looking back at his mentor, Jayden shakes his head. "Curiosity." Even as he says it, though, he is unsure — after all, it is quite unlike him to lose himself by something so simple as curiosity.

[break][break] Standing up, Jayden nods in agreement. "That makes sense." He watches the Rotom zoom past to capture pictures of the unusual phenomena. Jayden doesn't bother himself; he knows that Cillian Quinn has it handled. Instead, he shifts the conversation to one of the things that his mentor mentioned earlier...

[break][break] "You mentioned a meteor?"

[break][break] Worse things have happened, yet he couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] + mission: crystals in bloom

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[attr="class","littlejay"] A year.

[break][break] It seems mortifying - the thought of it. Yet, between everything that had happened in the past year, it somehow doesn't seem as surprising once it's said outloud.

[break][break] "I'm sure our scientists will discover a solution." It could not be said that Jayden's unwavering loyalty to Rocket, his belief in his comrades, had changed in the slightest. They had survived the death of their leader; they could survive this too.

[break][break] Instead, he decides to pivot the conversation into something more interesting. "Not sure if you've heard but..." He hesitates - it's not like something he likes to talk about often, but this is Gavin. He's allowed to know.

[break][break] "Father's company didn't collapse. In fact, the board wants me to build a branch here."

[break][break] Funny, considering how they'd killed a man tied to his father's crimes together. But perhaps it was that that had allowed the Board to instill even more trust in their only heir.

[break][break] He shifts on his feet. "It's already in motion."

[attr="class","ooc"] + mission: crystals in bloom

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