[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

part of him is surprised that illeana reyes still calls after him, considering the events that they all experienced in that digital universe. if mint frost and annalise henderson 's reactions are to be garnered anything but the truth, most are still recovering from the raw reality of what they had all experienced.

[break][break] but this was illeana reyes . perhaps she was built different.

[break][break] "of course," he says simply, offering her a coffee. it is the same, easy way that he offered her a coffee the first time they met on hoenn all those months ago — yet this time, when his eyes lift to hers, it's full of hidden meaning.

[break][break] "what are we doing exactly today?"

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]maybe she really is built different...

or she's simply used to the horrible events that keep occurring.

either way, she smiles gratefully before accepting the outstretched coffee.

"thank you," she murmurs.

she takes a sip before answering. and only after swallowing the coffee does she answer his question.

"i created a rift here recently."

it's a fact she no longer cares to dispute.

"i wanted to look into it a little further."

why here and not mossdeep?

another crack of thunder rips into existence and in the background, chaos begins to slowly form. it hasn't quite taken shape yet but within a few minutes, it will...

jayden cross
surviving space-time

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

ah.

[break][break] "you are a pertinacious woman, illeana reyes," he observes, after a moment of silence. a ghost of a smile is on his face. "it is a compliment."

[break][break] his eyes shift towards the crack of thunder in the distance. jayden has been through enough of these experiences to at least know the tell-tale signs of it's beginnings.

[break][break] "what is the plan?"

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she laughs, a smile spreading quickly.

"some would call it stupidly stubborn but thank you."

her eyes narrow, then, in what seems to be concentration. she looks beyond him to the horizon, to the possibilities it holds.

another clap of thunder sounds. it's sharp, closer. chaos is almost upon them.

"what pokemon do you have on you?"

her head tilts curiously.

"unown, z-move or mega evolution capable?"

jayden cross
surviving space-time

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

jayden does not often find himself enamored with women, least of all those of civilian status, but there is something proud and confident about the lilt of illeana reyes's voice then that makes him wonder otherwise. besides, she is not just any civilian.

[break][break] she is an acquaintance of his father's.

[break][break] at her question, his head tilts. "all three, if you require it."

[break][break] thunder cracks in the distance, a loud premonition of what is to come.

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]a hum escapes, as if she's weighing invisible options.

"i might."

it's everything she's already tried, though...

"i hate to admit it but," she pauses, eyes darting to the sky as thunder rumbles again. it's closer now. there's little time for her to decide. "i'm not sure what else to try."

she's seen results, sure, but she still feels so far away from the goal.

somehow, with jayden, she feels able to confess the thoughts that plague her at night. it's a comfortable state, perhaps.

"i feel like i need to change my approach but i'm not sure how."

jayden cross
surviving space-time

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

to be perfectly frank, jayden doesn't know much about illeana reyes. they know each other by virtue of their parents, but there is not much else besides childhood memories and childish exchanges over triangle sandwiches. there is something that connects them, even still, something that transcends the power of a factional war.

[break][break] "well," he says, lifting his brows. "what is your goal?"

[break][break] though he is more than happy to help her, there is only much he can do when he is being led by her like a puppet upon a string. even though he is no scientist, he is still the ceo of a pharmacutical company. he is still his father's son.

[break][break] he is sure that there is help that can be offered, if only the league's head scientist would let him.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she's spent so long showing all of her cards... it's difficult to keep things close now.

all of her attempts, information, goals have been lingering like shadows in the background. one wrong move and they'll suffocate her.

and yet, she understands that maybe, just maybe, it might not be so bad.

"palkia."

thunder rumbles louder as she answers but... isn't a god merely a means to an end? it's not a cure for her, not in the way she keeps hoping it will be.

"power."

control. strength. it's all the same terrible thing, isn't it?

she sighs softly and fixes him with a torn look.

"i'm tired of being weak, i guess."

exhausted might be a better word. her arms cross quickly over her chest, as if the posture can guard her.

jayden cross
surviving space-time

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

palkia. for a brief moment, he is brought back to a pocket of time. the raid on sootopolis. the sound of something screeching in the distance, something deep and echoing and endlessly complex.

[break][break] at the time, jayden had been too busy battling greater demons.

[break][break] but in the after, the reports had spilled everything that had been needed. even so, much of it was still speculation. he wondered what illeana reyes would have been able to say if she were there.

[break][break] "that is quite a lofty goal," he says, as amicably as one may have spoken about the weather. "have you considered simply training yourself — or your pokemon? it seems like it might be easier."

[break][break] there is a slight pitch to his otherwise monotonous tone.

[break][break] was he teasing?

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]her expression quickly unfurls itself into one of... mild annoyance.

as if it's easy as breathing, jayden pokes and prods at her goals. she doesn't miss the tease, the casual air of it all.

and despite herself, her little hands ball into fists at her sides.

"oh, shut it..."

somehow, it doesn't pack a punch. there's almost a fondness woven into syllables, faint but persistent.

"do you know anything about it?"

she fishes for information she doesn't already have. greediness drives fingers to pry apart his brain and scoop out whatever is of use to her...

jayden cross
surviving space-time

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

"about palkia, or about training?" his head tilts, lips curled upwards. "i know a little bit of both."

[break][break] it is informative, yet terribly vague. yet illeana reyes would know that this is to be expected, considering who she was dealing with. even though they had only ever become really acquainted in their older age — after all sharing sandwich squares over a table as youths could hardly count — they'd fallen into an easy enough dynamic that jayden felt that the head scientist could at least perceive his thoughts.

[break][break] or what she thought were his thoughts.

[break][break] sobering a bit, he adds, "my father was an... efficient teacher." he unbuttons the first button of his shirt, revealing the top of a deep scar on his collarbone.

[break][break] unmistakable.

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"palkia," she murmurs. perhaps, on another day, she'd pick his brain on training... right now, her priorities are scattered to space. they orbit around the earth in the same way saturn's rings do, close enough to see but never to touch.

"what do you know?"

he speaks in vague concepts, as if toying with the idea of indulgence but never quite giving in. it's infuriating in a way that comes from desperation, like how a man dying of thirst grows angry with a lack of water.

the sobering effect is sudden, a curtain being pulled away from the eyes.

and when her eyes fall on his collarbone, on the mark across it, they soften.

"it seems we have that in common."

the smile she flashes is small yet rueful as she uses one hand to raise the hem of her skirt away from her knees to barely below the top of her thigh. the higher it goes, the brighter constellations of childhood nightmares etched into skin become.

"now," she pauses and her skirt drops back to its rightful place, swishing against her knees. "what do you know?"

jayden cross
surviving space-time

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

his eyes follow bare skin as it leads up her thigh. such a thing would feel scandalous — intimate, maybe — if the two weren't so intricately tied to their pasts. to their childhood nightmares.

[break][break] too bad this was a tad darker than simply sharing triangle sandwiches over a playroom table.

[break][break] he glances up at her.

[break][break] "unfortunately - about palkia - not as much."

[break][break] his smile is a bit wry as he continues. "i only know from what i hear from rumor and the time that i visited sinnoh with my father. i know that they are a legendary pokemon, and tied somehow to both dialga and giratina." as jayden's understanding of most legendary pokemon, it was about as detailed as could be garnered from research books and old newsletters. as a child, he had often spent his days holed up in rocket's submarine.

[break][break] he was no expert, however.

[break][break] "what will you do if you gain an attendance?" this time, jayden's tone was genuinely curious. "i don't know much about legendary pokemon, but it seems..." his mouth purses in thought. "they seem difficult to please."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes

[break][break]

☉