Gavin doesn't — can't — get comfortable.

Stress presents itself heavily in the lines around his eyes and the bags beneath them, the tension in his muscles like a coil that's been wound too tight. But for all his own worries, he feels more concern for Rowan Wrynn as his brother grips a leather chair like a lifeline.

Gavin reaches for a bottle of whiskey, pouring himself a shot.

"Met with is generous." There's a gravel to his deep voice, and he clears his throat. He'd told Rowan about the eye, and the tendrils beckoning him toward the water. "I think it would've drowned me, if not for Lugia."

There's a rare hint of warmth in his tone at the mention of her, though he quickly retracts back into his stoic shell.

"How many dead?"

Rowan Wrynn

SITUATION ROOM

OCCUPIED OCEAN

"At least ten confirmed dead, another twenty or so unaccounted for." A solemn tone was clear in Rowan's voice, feeling the weight of those deaths on his conscience, indirectly caused by his ambition. He clicked the remote control once more, showing a collage of images on the television monitor now, the corpses that had been recovered from the waters, or rather what was left of them. The ones that had surfaced were ravaged, ripped to shreds by some great force, more than likely the same one that had been briefly seen on the video feed. "These haven't been the only sightings, either."

Another video feed, this time of bryan delarosa and Eris Halla 's trek into the vestiges of Sea Mauville, encountering what could only be discerned as some sort of shadowy entity. "Delarosa seemed convinced that this figure was his deceased sister, whereas Eris saw what we see here." Rowan used a finger to outline the shade on the video, barely able to be seen in the dark, just outside of view. "Originally I thought this was unrelated, a ghost-type Pokémon causing trouble, but after what you and Admin del Mar had encountered, I believe this is a psychic manifestation."

A sigh escaped his lips, pausing the presentation for now. "Whatever we're dealing with is not only a physical threat, but a powerful mental one as well."

WHAT LURKS IN THE DEPTHS?

Cillian Quinn

Gavin's fingers drum softly against the polished wood of the table, subtly indicating his increasing stress levels as he watches the video feed provided by his brother. His brow arches at mention of bryan delarosa's dead sister, but it's a long moment before he speaks.

"If this is some psychic energy, the entire project is in danger." Gavin would happily spend resources in the form of money and Pokemon to assist the Occupied Ocean project, but personnel? He wouldn't even send grunts for this. "If we don't find a way to counteract whatever we're dealing with, here..."

Well, he's sure Rowan knows the consequences. Gavin wouldn't be here if he didn't.

Gavin exhales, carding a hand through his hair.

"What are your current plans?"

Rowan Wrynn

SITUATION ROOM

OCCUPIED OCEAN

Planning for the unknown was no easy feat, but Rowan had mulled the concept over in his head during recent sleepless nights. "We go on the attack." Stepping around the chair he'd been grasping, the Beast finally allowed himself to sink into the cushion, relaxing ever so slightly. "Until now we've been reacting to what this thing is doing to our people and to my project. Unless we want more casualties we'll need to fight back." Of course, this presented some challenges of it's own. "Unfortunately, using the submarine for something of this relatively small scale is asinine, meaning we're at a disadvantage in aquatic combat."

Amber eyes shifted to Gavin now, peeling away from the gruesome images that continued to display on the television screen. "I heard you've garnered a working relationship with a woman who owns a vessel and a crew, yeah?" Although he didn't know much about skyler dross , he'd been aware of her reputation as a skilled captain, and one that didn't have inherent loyalties to the League. "Perhaps we can fold her into the project, as our muscle."

WHAT LURKS IN THE DEPTHS?

Cillian Quinn

Gavin continues to watch the gruesome display, something haunted in his eyes. It's several long seconds before he realizes that Rowan's attention has returned to him, and it seems to take a great deal of effort for him to look away. He wrings his hands, palms sweating.

"A working relationship with..." There's a furrow of confusion in his brow before he's able to process what his brother had said. His eyes were liquid gold, the same colour as— no, don't think about him. He focuses instead on the room, the strange comfort of the metal submarine walls, the feel of the fabric beneath his palms as he rests them on his thighs, the creak of leather as he shifts in his seat. Safe. "Ah. skyler dross, yes."

He presses on as if nothing had happened.

"She could work, yes." He nods absently. "So long as you don't treat her like one of ours, I'm sure everything would work out just fine. She's, ah..." Gavin smiles, a genuine pull of his lips that softens his haunted expression. "A bit of a spitfire."

He admires that quality of hers; an echo of what he'd once been.

Rowan Wrynn

SITUATION ROOM

OCCUPIED OCEAN

"No need to worry." Rowan scooped up his glass from the surface of the table, taking a small sip of the whiskey he'd poured earlier. "She'll only be filled in on the situation at hand, not what we plan to do with Sea Mauville." As important as her involvement would be, the captain didn't need to know the intimate details of their project, especially with dubious loyalties. "I'll get in contact with her soon and set up a meeting, the sooner we squash this problem, the better..."

Rowan found himself distracted by the look in Gavin's eyes, disturbed by some aspect of this endeavor, though he couldn't place the trauma with only a cursory glance. "What's wrong?" Cutting to the chase was easier, he was too tired and too buzzed to dance around the all-too-familiar suppressed emotions for which their family was becoming more and more known.

WHAT LURKS IN THE DEPTHS?

Cillian Quinn

"I'm not concerned about your ability to maintain confidentiality," Gavin clarifies; his brother was a Beast, and an unreliable Rocket wouldn't have been raised to such a position in his mind. "I was cautioning against treating skyler dross as a subordinate. She's very proud." But he nods as Rowan mentions setting up a meeting. "Feel free to disclose our conversation. She might be more agreeable if she knows you and I spoke directly on this."

He's surprised when Rowan asks after his issues. His muscles tense, and he opens his mouth as if to protest... then sighs, and finishes his drink. He needed it.

"The video was... it reminded me of unpleasant things." His lips press thin, and he chooses not to elaborate further. He doubts there's a need. His brother knows about Kanto, about the war. "It caught me off guard, is all. I know this is different."

But seeing limbs ripped from bodies, and all the blood — it was close enough.

Rowan Wrynn

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