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i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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TAG WITH @temp

POSTED ON Mar 17, 2023 23:18:16 GMT

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The pictures were all spread out on the table. A video was paused on each monitor. Temp chewed on his lip as he looked them over.[break][break]

The Lab downstairs wasn't his usual hangs but this was the only spot in the house with the empty space for his insanity.[break][break]

Notes had been written in his blocky and messy handwriting in the margins of each image. Some were labels, others questions or pointing out details that might normally go missed. A notebook was next to him, pages and pages filled with drawings and inane things he had discovered in his hours of research.[break][break]

Temp wouldn't notice when Cillian Quinn came in, even if the other called. He was so engrossed.[break][break]

When Gavin came down, he would find Temp leaned in close and frowning at one of the screens. A wireless mouse was having him rewind and replay a few seconds on a loop. The body cam images from when him and Isaac Merlo had investigated the waterfall. At a quick glance it just looked like darkness- but clearly Temp saw something.

[attr="class","tag"]Cillian Quinn

[attr="class","notes"]

notes

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☆ lapras - female - water absorb - safeguard, water pulse, perish song, mist, avalanche, dragon pulse

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thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

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6'3" height

creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

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TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Mar 17, 2023 23:55:04 GMT

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I thought he'd be home.[break][break]

Gavin is only mildly troubled by Tempest Quinn's absence; though his partner lacked any official job, he'd been busying himself with Rocket work of late and often spent free time on the beach or in the water. He could even be in Pacifidlog, visiting family. His shoes were by the door, but that also didn't ring too strangely. If he was on a job, he might ditch his usual pair.[break][break]

Locking the front door behind him, Gavin re-enables the security system and sheds his blazer on the hook by the door.[break][break]

Dogs mill around him as he makes his way toward the unassuming hall closet, but he shoos them away. They're not allowed down in the laboratory. He slides back the panel and punches in the code, surprised to find the lights are already on. It wasn't like Gavin to forget to turn them off; there was always a dim glow from the hydroponics along one wall, but for the whole lab to be lit...[break][break]

He descends as quietly as he can, gun drawn.[break][break]

It trains on the back of his partner's head.[break][break]

"Temp?"[break][break]

Gavin's surprised to find him down here. His husband doesn't seem to hear him, so engrossed is he in whatever he's got spread out across the ordinarily-clear surfaces of the lab. Putting the safety back on his gun, Gavin holsters it and steps closer.[break][break]

The seals.[break][break]

It's anger that grips him first; her influence.[break][break]

"What's all this?"[break][break]

Sharper, now, louder, so that Temp couldn't possibly neglect his presence.

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]Tempest Quinn

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temporary

he/him

may 3rd

pacifilog, hoenn

big homo

housewife

beast

6'2" height

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TAG WITH @temp

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2023 0:32:22 GMT

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Temp is unaware of how close he came to being shot in the back of the head.[break][break]

When Cillian Quinn calls out to him that final time he flinches some. It's just in surprise and startlement! Pausing the video, he swivels the chair around and smiles wide at his husband.[break][break]

"Cill! Come here, look!" Turning back around, Temp looks eager as he flips through his notes. He offers the notebook to Gavin to flip through as he starts on an excited ramble.[break][break]

"Me and Naomi Sato think it might be a language! I've been trying to see if I can decipher it but no luck. But, I think I found something else that's even cooler."

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thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

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TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2023 1:33:12 GMT

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Temp beams at him, but Gavin doesn't smile back.[break][break]

He went back.[break][break]

Admittedly, Gavin hadn't told him not to. He'd cautioned him against it, made him promise never to go alone, but he'd hoped that whatever obsession his husband had with the place had been left behind at the Border. Clearly, that wasn't the case.[break][break]

Memories of his arguments with Emma keep Gavin's temper in check. His own excitement curbed by her coldness, her inability to understood what he sought. It had been one of the cracks to form a fissure in their relationship.[break][break]

He doesn't want to lose Temp to the same.[break][break]

Mutely, Gavin accepts the notebook. He recognizes some of the scribblings as the markings he'd glimpsed around the Seal.[break][break]

"It doesn't look like any language I've seen." He'd studied several; it was a fact not often known about him. Amber eyes flick back up to settle uneasily on his husband. "What else did you find?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]Tempest Quinn

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temporary

he/him

may 3rd

pacifilog, hoenn

big homo

housewife

beast

6'2" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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TAG WITH @temp

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2023 1:43:23 GMT

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Cillian Quinn diddn't seem as excited as Temp did about this. Yet at least Gavin doesn't shame him for his interest or make him feel bad for it. It was still a sore spot between them at the end of the day.[break][break]

His willingness to look over his notes, to listen and understand, it meant a lot to Temp. This was expressed more in Temp trying to take the other's hand, to kiss the back of it like a Knight might kiss the hand of a Noble. Then he shuffled to the side to pull over of the rolling stools over so Gavin could join him.[break][break]

"Well, I went with Naomi Sato first. Everything looked the same from my original photos, but then we noticed this." He picks up a picture labeled [CLIFFSIDE] at the bottom. Temp takes his notebook back and flips to another page where 4 boxes have been drawn, each labeled with various bullet points of info inside.[break][break]

"See? There's scratch marks on the inside of the Seal, like something was trying to get out." They were deep and curved, overlapping, like the claws of an animal.[break][break]

"I went with Zev Harcourt next to see the one at the tree. I looked inside but didn't see any marks like the Cliffside, but I did notice a really strong smell like decaying leaves."[break][break]

"The one at the mountain also had similar markings, but they seemed more like gouges than claws, like antlers or something. But, I found the most interesting thing with Isaac Merlo at the waterfall, I think. I didn't even notice it till I was reviewing my footage!"

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played by

thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

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7,859 posts

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part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2023 2:35:38 GMT

Naomi Sato likes this

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Gavin's anger matures into concern; even Temp's exaggerated gallantry can't free him of his gnawing dread. This situation isn't quite the same as what he'd gone through with Emma. She had feared his ambition, his lust for power. Gavin feared only that whatever Temp was chasing might turn him into something unrecognizable.[break][break]

Still, he takes a seat and resigns himself, for now.[break][break]

At least he went with Nomi. Naomi Sato was someone well-regarded in Gavin's books. But wait... at first?[break][break]

How many times has Temp been back?[break][break]

Claw marks in the earth do nothing to soothe Gavin's anxieties.[break][break]

"I wish you'd have told me." He regrets the words almost immediately. It coils in his stomach like dread. A heavy sigh slumps his shoulders. "No, that's not fair. I didn't ask you to tell me. I just said not to go alone."[break][break]

Which, clearly, Temp had taken that warning to heart. He trusted Zev Harcourt. Isaac Merlo he trusted to keep Temp safe, though he worried what effect the other man's bleeding heart might have on his husband.[break][break]

"I'm worried about you." This was bordering on obsession. "Did anything happen?"

[break][break]

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yams

temporary

he/him

may 3rd

pacifilog, hoenn

big homo

housewife

beast

6'2" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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TAG WITH @temp

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2023 2:48:47 GMT

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Temp's wide smile, his joy at showing the other his discoveries, slowly fades when Cillian Quinn speaks. He looks more like a kicked puppy or a child who was scolded for proudly showing the art they had drawn on the wall. Temp moves his hand away from the wireless mouse, where he had been about to show Gavin the video.[break][break]

"Nothing unusual happened." His voice is quiet, now. "We only went in long enough to take pictures and leave. I didn't stay long."[break][break]

"I feel like I'm on the edge of something really big, Cill." Is offered, as if that might help.[break][break]

Reaching out, he takes his husband's hand.[break][break]

"I need to go back and look at them again." His voice is sure. There is also something in his tone that brokers no argument on it. That Temp will go back, even if Gavin chooses not to go with him. "We might have found something important, Cill. I want to go with you and check again."

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played by

thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

awards

7,859 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2023 2:57:06 GMT

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A sharp pang of guilt hits at the sight of his partner's crestfallen face. It is only the intensity of his concerns for their future that keeps Gavin from retracting them immediately, if only to put that smile back.[break][break]

The softness in Temp's voice is sharp as a knife in his gut.[break][break]

Gavin doesn't pull his hand away. He intwines their fingers, instead, squeezes.[break][break]

"What are you hoping you'll find?"[break][break]

He doesn't want to go back to the Border, doesn't want Temp to go back. But he can tell that there's no convincing Temp otherwise. He'd go with or without Gavin.[break][break]

"I'll go with you," he says, resigned. "Show me the footage, then. What did you find at the Waterfall?"[break][break]

Gavin had been listening, after all.

[break][break]

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played by

yams

temporary

he/him

may 3rd

pacifilog, hoenn

big homo

housewife

beast

6'2" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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part of

TAG WITH @temp

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2023 3:06:08 GMT

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Temp doesn't hesitate in his answer.[break][break]

"Something that will give Rocket another edge."[break][break]

His voice and eyes are hungry. Temp loves Rocket because Cillian Quinn loves Rocket. In that way, Temp will do everything in his power to make sure Rocket (and his husband) come out on top. Lightly squeezing Gavin's hand again, Temp does not decouple them when he turns back to the computer.[break][break]

"This is footage from the Waterfall Seal. I didn't notice anything while we were there, but look at this."[break][break]

The footage plays. Temp and Isaac can be heard shuffling and talking in the background. But Temp is playing just a few seconds, so the conversation is lost for now. The camera pans over the dark and yawning maw that was the inside of the open Seal.[break][break]

"See! Right there!"[break][break]

Temp rewinds the footage and plays it again. Pointed out is a blink and you'll miss it moment- just a brief flash of a green from deep within. As if the camera had panned over it at just the right angle to have light reflect.[break][break]

"We were standing right in front of it and didn't see anything. Something has to be hidden inside them!"

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played by

thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

awards

7,859 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Mar 19, 2023 4:27:40 GMT

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Now Temp truly reminds Gavin of himself. That zealous devotion to Rocket, the recklessness that came along with it. He remembers declan walsh's admonishment on Mt. Pyre and Mars' cheeky agreement as they caught up over drinks.[break][break]

Was this what Emma had seen when she looked at him? How could she resent him for it?[break][break]

Gavin's gaze softens, his heart rate picking up. The lab feels warmer, his skin flushed. But it's not the time for that, so he shelves his sudden desire to pin his husband against the desk and directs his attention to the screen.[break][break]

He doesn't see it the first time. It's too quick, and he's not sure where to look. After Temp points, however, and replays the footage, a hint of green is caught behind the Seal.[break][break]

Was it a Pokémon? An Ultra Beast? A person?[break][break]

"I see it," he affirms, seeming more invested now. "I wonder if all four of them are like that. When did you want to go back?"

[break][break]

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played by

yams

temporary

he/him

may 3rd

pacifilog, hoenn

big homo

housewife

beast

6'2" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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part of

TAG WITH @temp

POSTED ON Mar 20, 2023 17:47:06 GMT

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"I'd be more surprised if they weren't."[break][break]

Grabbing for his notebook again, Temp flips to a blank page and begins to write.[break][break]

"When I was talking to Zev Harcourt, he said something that made me think, you know? About how he wondered if something came out."[break][break]

What Temp was writing down was places around Hoenn itself. Points of interest. Areas in general.[break][break]

"Other shit comes out of the Border, so what if whatever was inside those did, too? I bet if we can go back and examine them close enough... we might even find hints on where they might be now."[break][break]

Giddy, Temp hops up from his seat. He leans over and kisses Cillian Quinn on the cheek but is content just to pace for now. Too much energy.[break][break]

"I mean, like, I would go now." Oh, how eager he was. "But we should probably eat dinner and wait till tomorrow or something."

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played by

thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

awards

7,859 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Mar 20, 2023 21:11:44 GMT

[nospaces]

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Gavin peers over Temp's shoulder, squinting a bit to decipher his husband's messier scrawl. Several locations in Hoenn are mentioned.[break][break]

"How did you come to those conclusions?"[break][break]

He sounds curious, now, rather than upset.[break][break]

Temp's hypothesis is sound, and Gavin nods his agreement. The kiss would find his cheeks still warm from their earlier flush, and in the privacy of their home, the gesture makes him smile softly.[break][break]

"I don't think you'll get any sleep if you're up all night thinking about this." This was based on Gavin's own obsessions; he'd never fall asleep when thinking about a new theory. "But we should definitely eat first."

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]Tempest Quinn

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played by

yams

temporary

he/him

may 3rd

pacifilog, hoenn

big homo

housewife

beast

6'2" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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part of

TAG WITH @temp

POSTED ON Mar 21, 2023 2:01:45 GMT

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The general list was filled with questions marks and uncertainty. Yet it was a start. Still, Temp rattled off his logic.[break][break]

"Well, if these are pokemon like I suspect, it would make sense they wouldn't come into towns or populated areas." At least not at first. Pokemon, even strong ones, tended to avoid smashing into the middle of a city unless it had an agenda. So, none of the places that Temp had listed were in cities or towns. They were all more natural places, where only Trainers would venture into the wild looking for rare pokemon- and where the unlucky could go missing into teeth and claws they didn't expect more easily.[break][break]

"I think if we can examine the Seals again, we might be able to find clues to narrow this down! My only solid guess is that whatever was in the Waterfall Seal is probably a fire type. The Seal itself was so hot it scorched my finger when I touched it. The head was oppressive despite the location. So somewhere in the Desert or maybe around Mt. Chimney?" Those were some of the hottest places in Hoenn. If it was a fire type, it would just depend on what flavor it was on where it went...[break][break]

And who said it couldn't be both?[break][break]

"If we do narrow down where they might be, without anymore clues we'd be just feeling around in the dark, too. Like, what would they even look like?"[break][break]

Temp taps his chin before glancing over at Cillian Quinn again. A sly look crosses his face.[break][break]

"You know... you could keep me busy tonight... tire me out..."

[attr="class","tag"]Cillian Quinn

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played by

thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

awards

7,859 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Mar 21, 2023 2:10:42 GMT

[nospaces]

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Gavin nods, following along with Temp's logic.[break][break]

"It was cold around the Cliffside Seal, you said." Gavin hadn't noticed, but he also hadn't much time near the Seal itself. He certainly hadn't touched it. "So maybe Shoal Cave, or the Icelands."[break][break]

It was strange to consider the Icelands as a part of Hoenn now... but they'd become a part of the world around the same time as the Seals had been discovered in the Border. Maybe there was a connection?[break][break]

"Well. If we see anything out of the ordinary, we'll know we're probably in the right place."[break][break]

Probably, not definitely, because Hoenn was a mess.[break][break]

Temp's next train of thought sees Gavin's brow arch, the gentle smile curving into a smirk. He closes the gap between them and winds his fingers in his husband's collar, physically restraining him from his pacing.[break][break]

He kisses him on the lips, chaste, then grazes his teeth along his lover's jaw.[break][break]

"I could," he purrs. "But if I get too carried away, love, you won't want to go anywhere tomorrow..."[break][break]

He bites at the hollow of Temp's throat, a laugh rumbling in his chest.

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]Tempest Quinn

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played by

yams

temporary

he/him

may 3rd

pacifilog, hoenn

big homo

housewife

beast

6'2" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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2,595 posts

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part of

TAG WITH @temp