His arrival is mid afternoon. He stops at the address given to him, a pit in his stomach as he looked down at the girl's handwriting. He does the math on how old she is, and compares it to the note that had arrived with him macarons. She's old enough not to make these mistakes and he wonfers the real impact her circumstances have had on her. Her education, for one, seemed lacking.

Paxton doesn't quite agree with any of…this. The mess that is his sister's life. He doesn't even want to set foot in the same house as a war criminal. But, then again, he's not sure what to think of Eris' invovlement either. [break][break]

Regardless of his unease, his expression is stony as he tried to remain level headed about it all. Regardless of it he thinks the League should've shot one of the household's resident in the head, and put the other in protective services instead of whatever the hell this home was supposed to be. [break][break]

He knocks, and calls out to the people inside. "Eris? Reiner?" His voice is loud, and he's not sure who he'll see next. He steels himself for the worst. [break][break]

It's complicated. Perhaps his sister was left better dead and buried in Kanto. Just like Concord was.

[break][break]

+ Eris Halla [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Paxton is patient. He waited by the door and only fidgeted twice with pink locks. The valetines stint had long passed but he found himself fond of the pink. For now anyway. He'd change soon enough later. [break][break]

He hears soft steps that turn faster and faster before the door swings open. One hand goes to the gorearm he no longer carries on his side, the other up to put up space. And then, at the sight of the lumbering Luxray, he's forced to pivot woth both arms ready to catch under the big cat and hug the electric type. [break][break]

He grunts but spins with the cat once more, just like all those years ago. "Who's- my little guard runt?" He asked as he came to a stop. His fingers instinctively give the cat a good scratch down the spine and behind the ears before he srops him down again. Despite himself, stony expression softens as he heard the old moniker. "Aye, yeah. You sent me an address. Figured I'd use it." [break][break]

He nodded over in the ditection of the League's HQ. "Got an extended break for-" he stopped himself, sighing quickly through his nose before dropping the train of thought. "I liked the macarons. How were the cat pops?" His eyes dip to Reiner.


[break][break]

+ Eris Halla [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The big cat relaxes and Paxton can't seem to smile fully. All he can think about is how big he's gotten and all the little nicks and scars that carve out parts of his pelt. He can only imagine Eris. He sighs in relief as she speaks of her address. Maybe he was just panicking. The Eris he'd known could barely write. This one…this one was practically a teenager. [break][break]

"Good, I'm glad." He picks up the Luxray with ease, cradling the big boy in his arms and planting a quick kiss on his head before setting him down and freeing his hands. He began to crouch before realizing she wasn't as short anymore. The movement is awkward and he hesitates before standing to his full height. "And you? How've you been?" He asked as he glanced around the home. It's better than a prison cell, he tells himself, and yet he hated it. It felt surreal. This whole setup was surreal. Every time he tried thinking about it his head went fuzzy and his vision unfocused. The sound of static consuming him until he stopped. [break][break]

"I've been…worried." Comes the understatement of the century.


[break][break]

+ Eris Halla [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

He's tugged into the home effortlessly despite feeling sick when he enters. It's so...normal. But it's safe enough. It's a League sanctum after all. For now anyway. "I said" he began, raising his voice a bit as she insisted. "How've y'been?" he flicks her on the nose and he makes his way deeper into the abode, looking over the furniture and its placement. [break][break]

Checking for visitor's other visitors that may have come by and when. What exactly she'd been doing before he got there. Where Reiner may pace or sit. "Where've you been, while you're at it." he said, loosening his tie as he went to find hismelf a seat in her living space. .


[break][break]

+ Eris Halla [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"Lot of energy for someone tha's dyin'." he said as he watched her plop down. He flicks her forehead just as unmercifully. "Ohh? What Christmas was that? This year or the past one?" he asked.
[break][break]

"What're your crimes? Do they include giving your only living relative a heart attack?" he asked, middle finger and thumb together as the threat of a third flick loomed. He aimed his other hand at Reiner. "You too buddy. She's a kid, but your nose is insane." he added with a humorless snort.

[break][break]

+ Eris Halla [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"Huh? You think you can cuss me out too? Uppity kid." Paxton said with a wry grin, easily holding back the girl with a palm on her forehead watching intently in case she tried to bite him again. He doesn't lean down to let her have at it either. [break][break]

As Reiner pulls her back, he pulls his hand away. He tilts his head, unimpressed. "Well, according to the report I received guardian is a terrorist, and is calling you their daughter. And you've been, apparently, living with Rocket for a good few years now." there's no humor in this. His tone is controlled, a stark contrast to Eris' own visible aggression. [break][break]

"It does matter." he said stubbornly. He may not show it anymore, but nothing would erase the scars Rocket had left. Every time he looked at himself in the mirror he saw past this new body, generated from nothing and present brand fucking new. Sucking the soul right back into itself, as it rebuilt around the damn thing cell by cell. [break][break]

But despite his health being perfect, until he worked himself into the ground, he still felt all of it. The killing blow on his neck, the broken bones in his body. Erased physically, but never mentally. Therapy helped, truly it did, but he carried years of those kinds of wounds. They weighed him down, as much as they drove him forward towards a simple purpose. [break][break]

So he echoes his previous question. "How've you been?" it hangs in the air as the time they've been apart stretches between them, heavy and thick.

[break][break]

+ Eris Halla [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

He lets out a laugh, sharp and bitter, as he watched Eris mirror him. Her demeanor changed at the drop of the hat but even in Kanto she'd been like it. Matching another's energy helped meet them half way right? Or something like that. But it doesn't. It's overwhelming him, as it had back in his apartment how long it'd been. How he kept only catching glimpses of her, even now. [break][break]

"Rocket disbanded over 4 years ago. You've been stuck in Kanto this whole time?" he pressed, eyes sharp as he watched her reactions. He had to know- needed to know what had happened to her. Where she'd gone- what they'd done to her. Why spare one child and kill hundreds of others? Guilt? After razing an entire continent to the ground?? He swallowed, blinking as he refocused on Eris. He's still ravenous, trying to put puzzle pieces together. But as hungry as he is for information he can't risk hurting his sister in the process. [break][break]

He frowns. Two years ago huh. They'd been struggling in the same region and hadn't a clue where the other was. The concern in his eyes, the glazed look of tears disappear as she says a name that makes him recoil. [break][break]

Paxton sneered. "Right. The coward someone brought back alive." He felt fire burning in his chest, acidic and hot as it slowly moved through his veins. A churning sort of hatred at the thought of being so close to Rocket. And not just anyone either, the equivalent of a general allegedly. His expression isn't sour, its dark. The undercurrent of a hatred that ran deep. [break][break]


He takes a deep breath, exhaling from his nose. "Before we go on, have you spoken to anybody?" there's a slight pause before he added deadpan. "I mean a therapist." The tug between the need to know more and the need for her to be alright makes him fumble in his purpose, added with a layer of nauseating hatred that blurs everything together into an unpleasant mess in what should've been the second happiest day of his life.


[break][break]

+ Eris Halla [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]