if he really had thought ahead, he'd have brought his flask. but he's been out of sorts lately. a little here and there. his therapist says people process grief in all sorts of ways. don't worry about the memory loss. you're still trying to cope. 

fenris, by no means, wants to startle or even bother the woman, so he doesn't alert her to his presence. which, very quickly proves to have an adverse effect. she nearly trips in front of him, eyes going wide. fright makes her go rigid and he freezes, raises his hands and tries to smile. 

"it's alright. sorry. i thought you'd pass me by," he says. 

all signs point to that being their only interaction so he goes to turn. not stare or ask her why she's out so late or anything like that, but she comes nearer instead. 

his smile falls just a bit, then picks back up again, albeit a bit tight-lipped. "ah, just enjoying the night. it's miserably hot during the day.

"and yourself?"

annalise henderson

☉

the lie comes and goes quite easily and he feels all the better for it. because she either doesn't pick up on his apprehension or chooses to ignore it - whichever it is, he's grateful. she's enthusiastic. brightly so, in fact, that he finds his tight-lipped smile easing into something more natural. more easy. 

he scratches idly at a crack in the picnic table, happy to let her prattle off about the humidity and the heat. really, it has been obnoxiously hot lately. with the world constantly thrown off balance, he's sure the environment hasn't taken too kindly to it. and the distortion areas? 

he's about to apologize for not being a pokemon when his newcomer becomes distracted. not that he minds. in fact, he watches, quite amused, as she extracts a pokeball and tosses it at the sleeping sunflora. 

there's a trill. he looks up sharply, catching a glimpse of grey feathers before the unfezant snaps her pokeball in its talons. fenris staggers up from the bench, reaching for his own pokeball at his belt. 

stymphalia appears in a brief glow of light, wings outstretched. "phae, steel wing." she whirls in the air and then flies toward the unfezant as it attempts an escape. the skarmory uses her sharpened feathers, sending the unfezant spinning and nearly colliding with a tree. 

it chirps in alarm and drops the pokeball it was holding, back-flapping in an attempt to avoid stymphalia's talons. they rake across its chest with a slash. 

fenris reaches for an empty pokeball of his own and grunts as he throws it up high. 

annalise henderson
catching unfezant!

☉

nothing else comes to try and claim the pokeball as its own. fenris stands back and allows her to do her thing. he does sidle to the side when she manages to get the sunflora and goes to root around in the underbrush to find his own prize. stymphalia lands on a branch above their heads and squawks as he fumbles through the brambles. 

but he comes back with the ball clutched in his fingers. he mumbles curses as he pulls himself from the thorny vines. when he shakes the last of them free, he latches the newly filled capsule to his belt and goes to rejoin his companion. 

and huffs a small laugh at her reaction over seeing a wild foretress. 

"annalise," he says, tasting the name on his tongue. he grins. "i'm fenris. looks like you're getting your wish. seems we've attracted quite a crowd."

stymphalia crows her metallic cry above them and flutters down. 

"mind if i join you? officially?" he wiggles his fingers. "i'll be your security detail - make sure no other ruffians snatch any pokeballs from you."

annalise henderson

☉

thanks, my mom made it for me. the remark doesn't make it past his lips, however, as the subject of the joke is still a bit of a sore spot. and he'd rather not sully his newfound companionship with discussion about why he'd really been out here in the first place. running towards nothing and away from everything and all that jazz. 

he feigns overdramatized relief when she finally gives in with her charade. 

"oh, it will. i'm quite terrifying, i think." absolutely not, but stymphalia's screeches and steel talons are enough to ward anyone off. 

gravel crunches underfoot as they make their way back onto the path, leaving the picnic table behind them. 

"y'know, i'm not entirely too sure what my job title is. i work for councilman black. kinda just do whatever the hell he tells me." except, ya know, when he doesn't. 

"but i take odd jobs here and there for the league." he sounds lame saying it. like usually he doesn't give two shits that he doesn't have a career or anything under his belt, but man, he wishes he had something more impressive for the girl beside him. 

annalise henderson

☉

her laugh is cute. well worth going along with the display just to hear it. he quirks a smile as they walk, casting sidelong glances every once in a while to show he's listening. and he simpers apologetically when she admits he'd given her a bit of a scare. 

"yeahhhhh. wasn't really thinking, honestly. just couldn't sleep." and, of course, hard to consider you might be seen as a threat when you've literally never experienced that yourself. "still, i think i did a pretty good job trying to make sure i didn't scare you."

her reaction to his job isn't surprising either, but this time he doesn't share her exuberance. he scowls instead, rolling his eyes. 

"he's fine. same old man, just with one less arm." and, as though to explain, says, "he's a friend of the family."

there's a little bit of judgment in her words and it rubs him the wrong way. because she's not wrong. the more he talks, the less impressive he feels. 'cause he basically just admitted he only had the job he does now because gabe's a family friend. which, in a nutshell, is why he has the job, but it's more complicated than that. 

right?

he decides to shift the conversation back to her. "so you're a ranger then." echoes of conversations with his mother come back to him. with his battling prowess, she'd recommended he pursue such a career. interested, he asks, "do you like it? especially with everything that's going on right now?"

annalise henderson

☉