he looks at freya, then the dragon, then arches his neck up to the dome above. king chewes his inner cheek, twitching his nose in agitation.
[break][break]
"...ye sure we have to do this? can't just... wait it out?"

[attr="class","notes"]freya morningstar[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

only king doesn't mount up. freya's hand stretches, but when he doesn't move, she doubles back. lyune shifts. smoke curls from his nostrils. he's on edge in this place and while he's been brought back to them now, they'll need to get out of here while he still has the energy to hold onto his mega evolution. 

freya reaches out and brushes her knuckles against king's cheek. "this will work. and maybe waiting it out will work, too, but..." she grits her teeth, shakes her head, "no, we can't stay here like this."

KING WAYLAND

☉

he reaches out with one hand, grabbing her wrist with a gentleness king rarely showed. he was an animal, depraved and broken, but for this solitary moment he allows himself to become something more, or something less, he isn't quite sure himself.
[break][break]
he sighs, a breathe that releases the tension that's coiled like a rattlesnake under threat. finally, he accepts her hand, lifting himself up and along the cobalt scaled trunk of a leg, and putting himself behind the dragoness.
[break][break]
"try not ta get us killed, ye?"

[attr="class","notes"]freya morningstar[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

she warms at his tender touch. it comes out in rare moments. or maybe not so. when most of their 'getting to know each other' has been beating the shit out of the other in a boxing ring, she hasn't exactly summed him up as a gentle creature. 

part of what drove her to his arms in the first place. 

because she is not tender. she does not linger when he mounts lyune. because more than the fear this place has wrought upon her, it has reminded her of her strength. of lyune's strength. their bond lends him the power to bolster as he does. 

and when he spreads his leathery wings and leaps into the air, she grins. 

"hold on," she calls and then leans forward. "lyune, get us out of here. dragon ascent." the salamence roars. he's climbed steadily, but then he pitches, diving down to his right. they lose altitude at a breakneck pace. 

green light spreads around them, sparking like electricity. he swoops down and then spreads his wings just wide enough to catch the wind, sending them rocketing back up. the speed leaves her breathless and gasping, every muscle in her body tense. 

that green energy convulses and expands with a boom. ash starts burning with fire around them and the sky cracks open. they sail through and freya steals a glance back. a green trail is behind them, rolling black storm wrapping over the hole they'd just ripped open.

when they're a good distance from the storm, lyune finally slows. his mega evolution holds thinly and they don't want to be aloft when he has to devolve. so she scours the sky and the seas, trying to make sense of where they are. 

still close to sootopolis. 

her heart gives a painful squeeze, but she urges him there regardless. her little seaside cottage should be safe for the two of them. after all, she'd hidden emma there from the rest of the world...

KING WAYLAND

☉

a thunderous boom precedes the shattering of glass, or at least, that's how king perceives it. when all is said and done and the three of them begin to level out, he releases a breath he'd been holding, removing his prying fingers from around freya's waist.[break][break]

"well, can certainly sign me up on not goin' ta one of those fuckin' places again." it was dark, cold, and lonely. at least the pit in his chest, for all they shared, gave him some measure of comfort.
[break][break]
"where we goin' now? too far from my place i think."

[attr="class","notes"]freya morningstar[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

bruises will dimple her abdomen, of that she's sure, but right now her stomach hurts with a different kind of pain. she doesn't answer king's question as the salamence makes its way towards sootopolis. only when he dives swiftly, darting around the bluffs to come upon a seaside cottage, nestled in a small field overlooking the outer wall. 

lyune lands heavily and his massive bulk shudders and shivers. king and freya get closer to the ground as the salamence shrinks. and when his devolution is finished, and she is sure he's still in the proper state of mind, she slips off. 

"my place," she says and extends a hand up to him. 

KING WAYLAND

☉

he takes her hand out of instinct, not because he needs it — and that's a fact. sliding off the lizard scales is, despite the simplicity of the task, a dangerous one; last thing he needed was to shred the skin on his ass, arceus.
[break][break]
"yer place, huh?" he grins something mischievous, eyebrows waggling. it was a façade, mostly. if she was feeling anything like he was, then they were just absolutely drained. he tosses her a cheeky wink anyways.
[break][break]
"'bout time i got ta see how a princess lives."

[attr="class","notes"]freya morningstar[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

she doesn't have the energy to argue. and lyune doesn't have the energy to bite him on her command. in fact, as soon as king slides off, the salamence rolls onto his side and falls asleep right there. she casts a glance at his form as she leads king across the yard. they're hidden, mostly, but lyune is hard to miss. battle-scarred and twice the size of most salamence, he stands out as her own. 

still, she cannot bring herself to return him to his ball, knowing he will find better rest out here among the tastes and smells of home. 

home. 

she fishes for the key hidden in an empty flowerpot on the back porch and then opens the sliding glass door. the cottage is lofty and open, but all of the furniture and knickknacks screams homey.

a fine layer of dust coats near everything. she rinses a couple of glasses and then gets some water for the two of them. then, when her thirst is slaked, she looks around, expression...pained. 

"my ivory tower," she says. "it almost doesn't feel real, being here. maybe because i know i'm not really back."

KING WAYLAND

☉

wordlessly he scans the surroundings of her 'ivory tower'. this place, whatever it meant to her, hadn't been used in some time. hidden within' these walls was a story he wasn't sure she was ready to share, or if he was ready to hear it.
[break][break]
he follows her in regardless.
[break][break]
"ye look home ta me," he says with all the tact of a charging rhyhorn, brow twitching beneath a layer of confusion. "what's the deal with this place?"

[attr="class","notes"]freya morningstar[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

she gives him a curious look and runs a finger around the edge of her empty glass. everything here was sophia's. "it was my mother's cottage, but became the family's when the morningstars adopted me. we're only twenty minutes away from the estate, but it always felt so different here."

she looks up. "but it's mine now. i came here quite often when i was still on the council. nevermind that though. are you tired? the shower is upstairs. i planned on rinsing before we sleep." 

even though it had been phantom ash, the feeling of it still lingers. 

KING WAYLAND

☉

he listens, part of him eager to listen to the story of freya morningstar. she'd made many, many comments, about how she wasn't born a princess, or with a silver spoon; he believed her, of course, but the poking and the prodding was amusing and added to their dynamic.
[break][break]
"so, this belongs ta yer real mom?" he asks, hoping he'd put two and two together right. he's more barbaric in his approach as he takes and downs the glass entirely.
[break][break]
her mention of a shower has the corners of his lips curling up.
[break][break]
"sure. care ta join me?"

[attr="class","notes"]freya morningstar[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

she smiles somberly, drifting from the kitchen and into the living room. over the fireplace are an assortment of photos. she grabs one and wipes the dust off of it. little freya brandishing a small bow, standing with her chest puffed out beside legendary archer sophia morningstar. 

"no," she says with a sigh. "it was sophia's. but she always liked to tell me how special i made this place. she never really used it before i came along."

she takes his hand and clasps it behind her back, treading lightly around the untouched furniture. even the stairs don't creak as she takes him upstairs. 

"go on. the water will take a minute to get hot. i'll find a change of clothes for us."

KING WAYLAND

☉

"okay," he says, feeling the days exhaustion weighing into his bones. as she lingers off to another room he slowly walks the hallway, stripping clothing from his body piece by piece.
[break][break]
turning the handle of the shower, it takes a minute like freya had mentioned. disuse makes the knob more difficult than usual, but the sticking isn't a real consequence.
[break][break]
he steps inside fist, standing beneath the running water with his eyes closed.

[attr="class","notes"]freya morningstar[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉