Did part of him feel bad for dragging Alexei all the way out here, away from his city and his work, just for the satisfaction of his company? Eh, a bit. But watching him in the dappled sunlight that slanted through the forest canopy, lilac eyes under slightly furrowed brows as he gazed around, made his heart squeeze and was more than worth it.
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Oh, god, he was in deep. He exhaled. Keep your head in the game, Marceliño.
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“Yeah, and they’re unnaturally aggressive,” Memo said, pressing through the undergrowth and ducking under a branch. “I read that usually swarming bees looking for a new hive aren’t as stingy as bees defending their old hive.”
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He tilted his head, listening for any sounds of ominous buzzing-- but the woods were quiet with birdsong.
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“Also, I always thought their default setting was stun and deter, not ‘set phasers to kill’, you know.”

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[attr="class","ooc"] Alexei Ivanov [break]


[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon rapidash-galar"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon togekiss"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon numel"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon skarmory"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon walrein"]

He turned back to listen to Alex, accidentally releasing a branch he’d been holding that snapped and whacked against the back of his head with a whipping sound. “Owch,” he said, rubbing at the stinging line and feeling more embarrassed than anything else.
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“No,” he said, trying to shrug it off, “I didn’t notice anything. Weird that they’d be so aggressive and then just-- vanish.” He continued to press on, clearing them a path through the undergrowth and branches, which was very silly considering he was the smaller of the two, but hey, here he was, continuing to be a nice guy.
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What a doormat.
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He had pushed a little further on ahead, leaving Alex to ruminate on the nature of bees behind him, when he turned and ran, face first, into the heavy comb of the lower part of a Vespiquen. He winced, the comb crushing stickily beneath his forehead, and stepped back, shaking his head to clear his eyes. Honey dripped down the line of his cheek.
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He hadn’t heard her because she wasn’t flying. She was sitting-- perched on a branch with her comb-like dress pushed forward, like a lady in a ballgown with her knees together. She cocked her head and looked at Memo with a discerning, judgemental gaze, as though silently reprimanding him for his foolishness. He opened his mouth to speak and she placed one golden, hooked claw in front of her matching golden mandibles.
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Silence.


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[attr="class","ooc"] Alexei Ivanov [break]


[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon rapidash-galar"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon togekiss"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon numel"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon skarmory"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon walrein"]

Alex’s voice had just faded away-- Memo’s heart did a thing because, aw, he sounded worried-- when the Vespiquen narrowed her eyes at him.
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Then, in the distance, sounded an ominous buzzing.
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She leapt off her branch and snatched his arm, dragging him back the way he came-- Memo skidded and stumbled in the forest loam-- and all but throwing him into Alex (she was strong, for a bee). Guillermo caught onto the back of Alex’s shirt to steady himself, accidentally-on-purpose holding the other man close as the Vespiquen made angry gesticulations at them.
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The ominous hum sound was growing louder, and the Vespiquen was looking more and more alarmed by the second. She quirked her claws in a follow me gesture, before turning and flying into the undergrowth.
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Memo looked at Alex, then disentangled himself enough to grab the taller man’s hand.
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“C’mon,” he urged, tugging in the direction the queen bee had gone.

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[attr="class","ooc"] Alexei Ivanov [break]


[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon rapidash-galar"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon togekiss"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon numel"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon skarmory"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon walrein"]

The Vespiquen led them down a short embankment, where the roots of trees punched through the dirt and gripped on for dear life before dangling away into a clotted mess of nothing. It was a little jump downwards-- well, more of a step, for Alex-- and then the Vespiquen turned and pushed them back against the bank, back of Memo’s shoulderblades thudding against Alex’s chest as the taller man’s back hit dirt.
[break][break]
Golden eyes glared right into his soul as the threatening buzz grew to its apex, paused for a moment, then began to dissipate. Only when it had started to quiet did the Vespiquen pull back. She pointed with a golden claw in the direction of the noise, then back at herself.
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Memo squinted, wishing for all the world that Pokemon could speak English.
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“You go with-- those Combee?” then he snapped his fingers, trying very much to ignore the heat and press of Alex’s body behind him, “Those are your Combee!”
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The Vespiquen, only looking mildly exasperated, nodded. Then she jumped into some ridiculous version of charades that ultimately explained her frustration with the situation, but not much else: a flailing of arms, a boxing of ears, and a gripping and shaking of the air.
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“It’s like she’s trying to speak to me, I know it,” Memo whispered to Alex, wondering if he was making sense of any more than he was.

[break][break]

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[attr="class","ooc"] Alexei Ivanov [break]


[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon rapidash-galar"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon togekiss"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon numel"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon skarmory"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon walrein"]

The Vespiquen clenched her golden, hooked claws together and made a slow twisting motion, like she was imagining ripping both of their heads off. Then her whole body heaved, releasing a great sigh, before she tried again-- slower, this time.
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When she was talking about the Combee, she pointed in the direction the terrifying buzzing had faded. So she did that, then reached up and tapped Memo’s ear, twice, followed by a tap on her own head where the approximation of an ear might be. Then she shook her head no, and dragged her claws over her throat, slowly.
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Well, that one was easy enough to get across.
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“Your Combee… aren’t… earring-- hearing-- listening to you!” Memo said, snapping his fingers. The Vespiquen nodded vigorously. When Memo asked, “Why?” she slumped, defeated, raising her shoulders in an semblance of a shrug.
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Memo frowned. “Huh. That’s weird. But… maybe we can help. We were looking for our rogue bees, and I think we just found them. We just need to grab a few and take them back to HQ so the smart folks can figure out what’s going on.”
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[attr="class","ooc"] Alexei Ivanov , character switching iiiiiiiiiiis haaaaard [break]


[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon rapidash-galar"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon togekiss"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon numel"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon skarmory"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon walrein"]

Memo leaned back against Alex, head tilted up to look at him. His gaze went between the taller man and the Vespiquen. She looked exhausted, exasperated, and like she was done talking. Memo felt for her, in that moment; Pokemon were creatures of strong instinct, and hers was to care for, and be taken care of in turn by, her Combee. Something was preventing that, and the toll it was taking on her was visible.
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Now take that, and multiply it by however many rogue Combee were swarming through these woods.
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“Okay, sounds like a plan,” he said, resolve filling his voice. “Any ideas on how to catch some Combee without getting unalived via beesting?”
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He looked up at Alex again. Being tucked under him was kind of fun.
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“Are you allergic to bees?”

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[attr="class","ooc"] Alexei Ivanov [break]


[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon rapidash-galar"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon togekiss"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon numel"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon skarmory"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon walrein"]