the sun is low in the sky. all is bright and beautiful on the boardwalk, and there is a war criminal standing in front of nagi. wearing a bucket hat. [break][break]

nagi can’t help it — he drops his sunscreen. [break][break]

it falls with a clatter, bouncing off the toe of his sandals and along the slats to land in between them. he is seized by a vision of leaving it there, a bright yellow, coconut-scented glass slipper, as he flees into the horizon, screaming all the way. [break][break]

"mr. beckett," he says, with more composure he thought himself capable of. hoenn has done its work on him. "good evening."[break][break]

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] THEO BECKETT [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-litwick"]

"good evening."[break][break]

theo echoes as he steps forward. he lowers to a knee to pick up the sunscreen, making sure it's still secure by running his thumb over the cap.[break][break]

it's then that a sylveon approaches, and it's quickly greeted with a poffin that theo pulls out from his fishing vest.[break][break]

still kneeling, he peers back up at nathan.[break][break]

"i trust you've been well?"[break][break]

well and quiet, as he should be.

[attr="class","ooc"]nagi miwa[break]
catching sylveon![break]
water/fairy[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-alomomola"]

“i’m fine.”[break][break]

looking down at theo from above, instead of having to cant his neck up, is novel. disorienting like this, theo looks almost like a kindly uncle. doting and gentle. a picture of casual, cordial compassion. falling silent, nagi tucks his hand into his pocket. he overlays the image of the man before him with the one he’d met in the alleyway, in fortree. his fingers curl.[break][break]

drawn by the scent of the poffin, an azurill bounces its way into their path — and takes nagi’s hidden hand as an unspoken promise of food. it nuzzles up against his knees, bobbing on its ball, eyes wide and expectant. [break][break]

he hesitates, before sinking down to a knee as well. it feels like giving up high ground. [break][break]

rooting around in his pocket, he pulls out a razz berry candy; brushes the lint off the wrapper, tears it gingerly open and holds out to the azurill with a tentative hand, the palm indented with fingerprints. his eyes are locked on theo’s all the while. [break][break]

his words are clipped and careful when he asks: “... have you?”[break][break]

whatever well means for someone in theo's profession.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] THEO BECKETT [break]
catch attempt on azurill![break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-litwick"]

nagi's awkward and tense disposition seems so natural at this point that theo doesn't think to question it. he assumes everything to be okay — whatever okay is to them.[break][break]

"very well, actually."[break][break]

he flashes a brief smile, teeth not nearly as sharp as a sharpedo's. speaking of, one ends up beached right beside them for whatever reason.[break][break]

"i've been recently promoted, if that's something of interest to you."[break][break]

he tosses two pokeballs: one for the previous sylveon and one to save the sharpedo.

[attr="class","ooc"]nagi miwa[break]
catching sharpedo![break]
water/fairy[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-alomomola"]

congratulations isn’t the right word here, is it?[break][break]

“i see.” [break][break]

a floette bumps up against his knees. he tries to ignore her pleading, expectant expression, and gets as far as turning his head ten degrees away before his will crumbles to ash. the floette joins the azurill by nagi’s ankles on the boardwalk, a flower in one arm and nagi’s last sitrus biscuit in another.[break][break]

he tucks his hands back into his now-snackless pockets, picking at the fabric with his nails. the glint of theo’s teeth flashes white in the glare of the setting sun. [break][break]

“what,” he asks, the question bubbling out of him, led by the self-same curiosity that had gotten him into trouble before, “do you do now, then?” [break][break]

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] THEO BECKETT [break]
catching floette![break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-litwick"]

congratulations would've been just fine. maybe even appreciated.[break][break]

"the same as i did before but on a larger scale. recruitment and training, essentially."[break][break]

yet another pokemon waddles up to them, this time an alcremie. he's briefly reminded of Cillian Quinn's and even expects a sweet. it presents him with nothing but a reminder of the past. despite that, he still catches it.[break][break]

finally, he stands back up.[break][break]

"any interest?"

[attr="class","ooc"]nagi miwa[break]
catching alcremie![break]
water/fairy[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-alomomola"]

the absurdity of the situation drags a bark of laughter out of him, in spite of himself. short and sharp, like a gunshot.[break][break]

nagi stretches a tentative hand out to a passing dewgong, splitting a share of the sitrus biscuit with the floette. the fur, cool and slick under the drag of his index finger, grounds him.[break][break]

“the first time we met,” he starts, letting the dewgong nibble the last of the biscuit crumbs off his fingertips, before setting his pokeballs down to roll towards the pokemon arrayed around him on the boardwalk. as the red lights flare, he glances out of the corner of his eye at theo. “... there was a dead body.” [break][break]

a dead body theo had shot.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] THEO BECKETT [break]catching dewgong![break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-litwick"]

"there was one, yes. well remembered."[break][break]

off to the side, a surskit shapes itself into an upside-down bowl, ready to be a RAIN DISH. it must have sensed the change in weather. theo makes a quick note of it.[break][break]

but back to the body he had shot...[break][break]

"have you thought about it often? there are counseling services we could provide should you need them."

[attr="class","ooc"]nagi miwa[break]
skipping![break]
water/fairy[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-alomomola"]

they have counselling services? nagi’s eyebrow quirks; he can’t hide his momentary flicker of disbelief. he files theo’s nugget of information away in his head, along with the other nuggets of dubiously-useful knowledge he has amassed. unless. of course, "provide counselling services" is a euphemism for "surreptitious defenestration", which seemed just as likely.[break][break]

a dracovish lumbers by as he reorganises his thought cabinet. he tosses a pokeball out; his gossifleur makes short work of the unwieldy chimaera with a leaf storm.[break][break]

emboldened — by the lackadaisical beachside atmosphere, the ludicrous turns of the conversation, a fatal infection of PENELOPE LIVY 's unerring drive to dig — he holds his askance gaze steady, and asks: "is offering emotional counselling to murder witnesses part of rocket's plans to better the region?"[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] THEO BECKETT [break]
catching dracovish![break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-litwick"]