the gravel in his voice was abrasive against her confidence, but it didn’t tear. she entered smoothly, shutting the door behind her and finding the chair he’d gestured to. a black-slacked leg crossed, fingers lacing. she was collected, with eyes just like Cillian Quinn ’s and a steely air to match.

”a couple of things, i’m hoping. i don’t intend to be greedy with your time.” she paused. ”though i’ll admit, i regret that we haven’t had the chance to talk much. sharing darkrai’s power has only made me more curious about you over the last year and a half.”

lulu didn’t glance at the paper on his desk. maybe it took a touch of insanity to stare at someone like him so straightly, but she was a scientist, observing.

”i've wondered… the abilities you used in the tree were unlike my own. did they come to you over time? or perhaps powers are not distributed equally between multiple avatars of the same pokémon...”

NPC

☉

walsh’s welcome was more than expected. lulu hardly needed any more encouragement to take full advantage of it, settling in.

’even i,’ he said. who was he—besides the boss of a criminal organization—to imply that he was more insightful about these things than even the top scientists he delegated such research to? had he meant it like that? was it a slip of the tongue?

”i wonder if perhaps darkrai could tell us.” there was a pause, before she decided to ask with a tilt of her head, ”does it speak to you?” things had been pretty quiet on her end. never more than a rare peep from the lord of nightmares.

NPC

☉

it was surprising to her that darkrai didn’t speak to walsh. there had once been a fear that it was some kind of spy for the boss, that it had known the corrupting things in her head at the beginning—but those things had quickly changed, and her patron had stuck around.

the question was turned on her, and she felt a brief burning of anxiety. almost as immediately, however, the wheels in her head began to spin more. walsh seemed to not know as much about darkrai as she had previously assumed. maybe it did prefer her, now, and maybe, if he tried anything, it would come to her defense. she’d be willing to bet it was in the room, watching them at that very moment.

her confidence began to recover, foolish as it may have been.

”does it?” lulu asked. it could have been clear it was news to her by the rise of her thin brows. ”i don’t see it much, really. it likes to hide.” but it was there when she needed it, certainly more often than not.

”it’s spoken to me very little, but yes. usually, in dire situations—although i have tried to get it to talk more. seems that it wants to remain a mystery. very stubborn.”

”i have a theory about it, though.” she paused a beat, before asking, ”how familiar are you with the interdream zone?” had the rocket boss ever been there?

NPC

☉

shy?

somehow, it reminded her of something THEO BECKETT might say, delivery and all. similar as to the underboss, her eyes searched his with scientific scrutiny that would ultimately grasp at nothing. it resulted in the tiniest, briefest pinch in her brow.

”i suppose…”

the question about mossdeep was confirmed, ”precisely.” the interdream zone: a hallway between the door of their universe and the door to another dimension. or at least, in theory.

”the events at mossdeep have led me to believe that dreams may be more real than we often give them credit for, and that the interdream zone could perhaps function like ultra space—a way to travel to other worlds.”

it brought her to what she'd come to his office about. she paused for a moment, wondering how he might respond to this kind of talk this time around.

”if my concerns are correct, we may need to leave this one soon, one way or another.”

declan walsh

☉

”i’m not an easy scare.”

she stared back, sure she was seeing through his ruse. 'still interested?' of course he would try to manipulate, to steer her away from the escape from his own creation of doom and disaster. 

she had to find a way around the matter in front of her.

”the interdream zone opened to us at least in some capacity at the space center, and no one was actually harmed by the dreams themselves. while i agree the potential for danger is still there, i don’t think we have many other options. this world may be ending.”

but that’s your plan, isn’t it?

”so yes, i’m interested. are you?”

declan walsh

☉

when lulu speaks of her fearlessness, the smallest crack of a laugh crawls out from the firm shape of walsh's lips. he's amused, perhaps. amused or incredulous.[break][break]

"i am assuredly interested." the boss says. "but it is that ambition to seek what you'd like to see that is dangerous... if you trespass a realm of nebulous possibility."[break][break]

he lifts his cane from its perched slant on the desk and stands.[break][break]

"dreams can trick you. they can make you believe in a paradise that isn't there."[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Lulu Flint

was it a joke? he was laughing at her. laughing, in the face of her nerve to explore all possible solutions to their inevitable demise. she could imagine why, of course.

”i’m not looking for paradise.” maybe she was. did he know that, or was he guessing? ”i’m looking for a way out of an early grave.”

there was a pause. he stood. why was he standing? should she stand too?

no.

she continued, eyes not straying from him, ”but if i was looking for paradise, what makes you so sure it wouldn’t be there to find?” 

she felt her heart beating just a little faster.

”can you say with certainty that a good dream isn’t ever just a glimpse into a better world?”

declan walsh

☉

"i can not." walsh says.[break][break]

however, dubiety wears two crowns of equal karat. perhaps lulu's paradise does exist. like a bagon dreaming to fly, only to discover in time that it will bear wings.[break][break]

or it may not, and should it be veiled by desire and daydream, how much of it is simply a lightbulb on a mimikyu's clothed head?[break][break]

"but i do know that the taste of a daydream can be enough for the mind to disconnect." the boss says. "confirmation bias, i believe, is what it is called. do understand, i speak out of care rather than discouragement."[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Lulu Flint