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Of all the things she could be doing right now, Ruby couldn't believe it was fishing.

[break][break]Normally, she wouldn't even consider just sitting on the shore, fishing line dipped in the water, waiting for some oblivious fish to swim up and bite on the hook. But Jade had wanted to fish. Specifically, she'd wanted to fish with Ruby so they could have some quality sister time while Ruby had some time off "work." And dammit, how could Ruby say no to that?

[break][break]The sisters chatted as they waited for something to bite. Ruby sat in a fold-out chair while Jade sat next to her in her wheelchair, its wheels locked and Atlas the Machamp standing by in case something happened. Ruby listened as Jade talked about the books she'd read, the shows and radio dramas she'd listened to, the time she'd spent with her friends, her thoughts about school this coming year, and so on. When Jade probed Ruby for conversation topics, the redhead carefully picked from her recent jobs to avoid anything that sounded too criminal or dangerous and sometimes had to make up details. It wasn't like she could just openly talk about Rocket business. Not with Jade.

[break][break]"Oh!" the younger girl suddenly exclaimed. "I think I got a bite!" Indeed, her rod shook, and the bobber had gone under the water. Ruby watched as she began to reel it in.

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"Got it!" Jade exclaimed when she heard her catch break the surface. "Hmm, it doesn't feel too heavy..." Atlas stepped forward to grab ahold of the line and the Pokémon on it.

[break][break]Ruby laughed. "That is the smallest Huntail I've ever seen!"

[break][break]Atlas placed the eely Pokémon into Jade's outstretched hands so she could feel it. "Oh!" She giggled. "It is quite small, isn't it? Could you put it in the tank, Atlas?" Atlas nodded and placed the indignant Huntail into the large tank the girls had set aside for their catches. The rules said they could only keep one, but they could at least enjoy them for a little while before the end of the event.

[break][break]"Whoa!" Ruby suddenly shouted at a hard tug on her own line. She started to reel it in, only to be met with immense resistance. "Gh, this thing's a fighter!" She grunted as she pulled on the rod, but the force suddenly pulled her out of her chair with a startled cry. Atlas was quick to act, grabbing Ruby's shoulders with two arms and using the others to help her pull on her fishing line. The Machamp's great strength made it much easier to reel in whatever this behemoth was. It didn't feel like a Wailord or anything crazy like that, but it must have been one big, tough fish!

[break][break]"Are you all right?" Jade asked. "What's happening?"

[break][break]"I'm okay! Just got a big, tough one. C'mon, Atlas, pull!"

[break][break]Human and Pokémon tugged at Ruby's command, finally forcing their catch to breach the surface. At first, it just looked like a Mantine. But then, something else rose with it.

[break][break]"Isaac?!" Ruby shouted. "What the fuck, you're not a fish!"

[break][break]"Did... Did you catch a person?" Jade asked. Then, with a mischievous little smile, she added, "Also, language."

[break][break]Atlas chuckled behind Ruby.

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Isaac Merlo was being a better influence on Ruby's sister than Ruby herself when it came to not swearing. How dare he.

[break][break]She grinned at Isaac's comment on her strength. "Jealous?"

[break][break]"Didn't Atlas help you?" Jade asked.

[break][break]"Only a little!" Ruby blushed indignantly as Jade giggled to herself. Atlas took a moment to flex before returning to his trainer's side. Jade had already cast her line again and was patiently waiting for another bite.

[break][break]"So, what, you were scouting underwater for fish?" Ruby asked. "Heh, not your smartest idea with a bunch of hooks dangling around."

[break][break]"You're not hurt, are you?" Jade asked. Ruby was pretty sure he was fine, judging by how nonchalant he was being about being the catch of the day. He was even already casting his line! And joking around about Ruby actually socializing for once. With a deep frown, Ruby cast her own line out into the water.

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[break]Argh. There really wasn't any getting around this, was there? She tried to keep her deep breath through her nose quiet. "This is my sister, Jade."

[break][break]Jade smiled in Isaac's direction, her clouded eyes not quite meeting his. "It's a pleasure," she said. "I'm afraid Ruby hasn't mentioned you before, though."

[break][break]"We've worked together a few times," Ruby said. She flashed Isaac a look, one that was both a threat and a plea to not talk about the specifics.

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"I didn't lie! I just didn't mention it, that's all." Ruby sounded awfully defensive for someone who had just lied, even if only by omission. But who had time for technical terms like that? Not Ruby, that was for sure. At least Jade was getting a kick out of Ruby's humiliation. That meant Isaac was safe... for now. Though Ruby did toss him a "Gross" at his suggestion that she bandage him up before tossing her line back in.

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[break]Luckily, Jade easily picked up on Isaac's sarcasm, even if she couldn't physically see that he wasn't bleeding all over the place. "I'm glad you're all right," she said.

[break][break]Isaac's quip about being Ruby's secret earned him a glare from Ruby and a more scandalized look from Jade, but the latter died down when she realized that he was just teasing again. Jade smiled at his description of her brain flying the coop out of sheer boredom. "You must help keep things lively, then," she said.

[break][break]"That's one way to put it," Ruby mumbled just loud enough to be heard. She didn't have the heart to go any further, though. She could have said something about how she had to choose between being bored and being annoyed, but with the things she and Isaac had seen and talked about together, that was harder than it should have been.

[break][break]Jade seemed surprised that she was being addressed again. "Oh, I'm doing well. I'm glad I have the chance to spend time with Ruby like this. Her work keeps her away sometimes. Are you a freelancer like she is?"

[break][break]That was the excuse that Ruby had used since joining Team Rocket: She took up various odd jobs to pay the bills and called it "freelancing" to make it sound more official. Sometimes, those jobs required her to stay out of town for a few days, but they were always worth the cash, and she always tried to make time for Jade or buy her a present afterwards. Jade had gone along with it so far, but sometimes, Ruby wondered if she suspected her work's true nature. She was a smart kid, after all.

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It wasn't that getting to spend time with her sister was a rare thing, per se. Hell, Ruby made sure she was home as often as she could be so as to not leave a blind, paraplegic 16-year-old alone at home with her Pokémon. It'd be a hell of a lot easier if their mother actually did her damn job, too.

[break][break]Jade's smile grew bittersweet when Isaac said that family was important. "Yes," she said quietly. "It really is, isn't it?"

[break][break]Ruby, meanwhile, put on a sour scowl as she cast her line again. Unlike Isaac, she seemed to have no qualms about airing her grievances toward a certain someone. "Yeah, well, not everyone thinks that..."

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[break][break]Jade seemed to hesitate for a moment. "That's why you have to hold onto what you have, right?"

[break][break]"Yeah," Ruby said. "You hold on, and you don't let go just 'cause things suck." Ah, dammit, she was starting to get sappy in front of Isaac. "You two catch anything good? I still think that tiny Huntail is great." That, at least, brought a smile back to her face.

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If only Ruby could say the same as Isaac about her Rocket associations. Sure, she'd worked with a few she'd gotten along surprisingly well with, but that was... well, mostly business, at least. The closest thing she had to a mentor was a Rocket Beast who was probably going to beat some sense into her Garchomp. But to her, that was the way it was supposed to be. Letting people get close would just give them an opening to stab her in the back or, Arceus forbid, find out about Jade and try to get her involved in all this. Hell, Ruby was already planning just what to say to Isaac once Jade was out of earshot. It was something along the lines of, "If you mention my sister to anyone, I'll rip your guts out and strangle you with them." (Hey, just because she tolerated Isaac didn't mean he wasn't immune to her Protective Big Sis Instincts.)

[break][break]She was too deep in her own thoughts to hear Isaac's muttered declaration. But Jade, with her sharper hearing, gasped in a sharp yet quiet inhale through parted lips. At first, she was worried Ruby had heard and that she would lash out, overcome by anguish that she only knew how to redirect to anger. But it seemed the sounds of the ocean had drowned out the words in her older sister's ears. The tension was pressed out of her by the weight of momentary grief. It had been two years since their father had been taken from them, but it still stung all the same.

[break][break]"Holy sh—crap!" Ruby exclaimed. "That thing is huge!"

[break][break]Jade forced herself back to the present, drawn back by that exclamation and a gentle hand on her shoulder from Atlas. The Machamp had been specifically trained to help Jade with physical work around the house, but he had a knack for picking up on her feelings, too.

[break][break]"What is it?" Jade asked.

[break][break]"It's a giant Gorebyss! I bet the little guy over there is jealous."

[break][break]Indeed, the tiny Huntail looked straight-up offended by the Gorebyss's mere existence.

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Jade relaxed a bit now that the potential danger had passed. As much as she truly loved her sister and appreciated everything she did—everything she sacrificed—for her, her temper wasn't exactly the best. At least with people who weren't Jade. Sometimes, she felt like Ruby was harboring anger toward having to take care of her little sister and took it out on others. And though she knew, logically, that Ruby had no reason to be mad at Jade herself... sometimes she couldn't help but wonder.

[break][break]"Aren't Jolteon normally, what, two or three feet?" Ruby asked. "That one must be huge."

[break][break]At least she seemed to be in a better mood now. As annoyed as she'd seemed by Isaac's unexpected appearance, he had a way of lightening the mood. Even if, ironically, he'd been the cause of Jade's own dampened spirits.

[break][break]"They're fast, too, aren't they?" Jade asked. "Riding it must be quite the challenge, as well."

[break][break]Once Isaac had pulled up his hard-fought catch, Ruby burst into laughter. "That tiny Remoraid gave you all that trouble? Hey, just goes to show you shouldn't underestimate the little guys, huh?" She gave him a playful punch on the arm. "That or you really need to work out more."

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Out of context, seeing a pic of something "huge" would have sounded bad. Ruby might have made a crass joke about it had Jade not been right there. Though Isaac's mention of consequences had her frowning. "Consequences?" she asked. She knew some Pokémon could develop health problems based on how they were bred. Maybe it was something like that?

[break][break]Ruby had to double-take at Isaac's Dragonair-riding anecdote. "You almost fell off and died, and you call that 'semantics'? I'm calling Tauros waste."

[break][break]"Still, Extreme Speed on a Dragonair... I think I'm happy not knowing what that feels like," Jade said, smiling nervously.

[break][break]Ooh, dang, Isaac beat Ruby to the punch... against himself? Never mind, thinking too hard about that was going to give her a headache. But he was apparently doing martial arts now? "Oh, I've got to see that," she said. Ruby wasn't trained in any, herself—she usually relied on brute strength and experience—but maybe she should look into it. Not because she was worried Isaac would actually beat her or anything; it'd just be a good way to get her own strength up. Plus, she could probably use a hobby that wasn't just being pissed off 90% of the time...

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[break]"Holy—!" Ruby stopped the swear from exiting her mouth and instead focused on reeling in. This was a big one, but Ruby was determined to show off her bragged-about strength! She hauled her catch up from the ocean. "That is a big Huntail!"

[break][break]"Good work!" Jade cheered, voice as gentle as ever.

[break][break]The tiny one... actually seemed to recognize this big guy? It looked excited to see it, at least.