[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] "yeah," jayden is quick to respond to them, even as he seamlessly bunts the edge of his sword against another league guard to knock them out. "just setting up some traps."

[break][break] a litter of dead bodies, with the only casualty unfortunately being the pokemon along the way. both theirs and his. one of his gothita lay down on the ground where an unfortunate CRUNCH attack had struck it.

[break][break] there is something comforting about the quiet lull that follows, knowing that there is someone at the end of the communication line to watch out for him in case something went wrong. it was a tie that united him with all of rocket, but even more important than that, with fern.

[break][break] hesitation burns his tongue into silence when fern asks why and it takes a longer minute than he should before he responds.

[break][break] "my brother's hair was white." alexei. the favorite. the one that dmitri had always favored. the childish part of him had always wanted to appease his father, wanted to know what it was that alexei had that made him different. his lips curved at fern's comment. "a brunette? why not a blond?" flicking off a spec of blood on his outfit, he glances down at his bangs in contemplation.

[break][break] as for the favor...

[break][break] "let me think on it. i want to make it worthwhile."

[break][break] another pause.

[break][break] "what about you? what are your two truths and a lie?"

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

fern delaney

[break] + COMMS [2/2]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"]“Alright, good. You’re…being careful?” They don’t mean to fret. But it comes naturally. As they reach their sableye, she points down at the blinking device left waiting. A league camera, perhaps? Left to suss out any identities? Even if this is not the case, they pluck the device from where it’s been attached to the corner, and crush it up under the heel of their boot.[break][break]

Nice and easy.[break][break]

“Oh, well. Dark and mysterious just suits you better, duck.” Their words are teasing, though to a certain extent truly believed. Even if the more stubbornly elusive parts of Jayden’s past and personality proved to be frustrating at times to Fern’s endeavors to know him better. But the fact that he didn’t dodge around the explanation now was a…good sign. Yes. It seems to be.[break][break]

Another laugh follows, the cadence of it knowing. “See? You prove my point–mysterious. What was the lie, then?”[break][break]

Recalling their little sneak, they make their way toward the other edge of down, just west of their position. The rift there is where they’ll meet Mint with their decoy cargo. “Fine, though. I’ll be expecting an answer though. Let me think…” Fern hums, tapping at their chin as Medb floats just ahead of them.[break][break]

“I once fell from a window and broke my arm to get away from local law enforcement, I cannot whistle, annnddd I love you.” They say it so offhandedly, so casually, that it takes a moment for Fern to register they admitted it in the first place. And over a game on the radio. Their palm smacks their forehead, but their jaw clicks shut. Always with the foot in the mouth, Fern Delaney, you idiot.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

jayden cross

[break] + COMMS [1/2]
[break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x9 (90mp) + paranoid from the deep sea (10mp) + use of poison barb (10mp) = 160mp

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] "of course," he says, and then much softer. "you don't have to worry about me, fern."

[break][break] but he knows they will. he just wants to say it anyway.

[break][break] from his hand, jayden takes a few SCATTER BANG traps and scatters it around the perimeter. his mimikyu manifests at his side, taking a large shadowy hand to assist with the endeavor.

[break][break] "well then." he stands up, a ghostly curve to his smile. some might even say his own tone bordered on teasing. "if that's what you like best, then i'll stay this way."

[break][break] it was much easier, anyway. and jayden much preferred simplicity. even though there were occasional days that he wondered if he could've led a more vibrant life like the likes of mint frost or even illeana reyes, in more ways than one.

[break][break] "ah, i've been ice skating before." he thinks about the conversation he shared with Isaac Merlo on that wintry day before sootopolis' frozen lake. "when i was a kid, father and i would occasionally visit circhester."

[break][break] maybe one day he could go back with fern. not to circhester, but to ballonea.

[break][break] as he's considering if such an expectation is too much to ask of them, he turns a corner. at this point, they're growing closer and closer to where they believe fern should be. after all, the perimeter of dewford is only so great. the first one is inexplicably true — fern had once told him so. the second, he was unsure of. and the third...

[break][break] he stills.

[break][break] "you love me?"

[break][break] his voice pitches into quiet vulnerability, silence crackling through the speakerset.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

fern delaney

[break] + COMMS [2/2]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"]“Right. I know, I know.” They still do, however. It comes naturally and instinctively.[break][break]

Still, the reassurance makes them smile. For a little bit, anyway, before their blunder.[break][break]

“Not always, though,” they tease, “I like your stories too.” Or the nicer ones, anyway. The ones that don’t leave them simmering with resentment for how he was often treated.[break][break]

Hearing about these things is nice. Until they fumble, and wish for the ability to sink into the ground as Medb does.[break][break]

“Well that’s obviously not the lie!” they babble back indignantly, feeling heat creep up the back of their neck and flood their face, in spite of the situation. It’s a stupid wartime declaration isn’t it? One that probably won’t be taken seriously…or, or is just something said impulsively, and again, not taken seriously. But–[break][break]

But they mean it. They really do mean it.[break][break]

Pursuing their lips, they whistle a sliding note. “See? Whistle just fine.” As if it needs proving. Whether that whistle is heard through the air, beyond the earpiece, remains unknown. Dependent on how close they’ve managed to draw together.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

jayden cross

[break] + COMMS [1/2]
[break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x10 (100mp) + paranoid from the deep sea (10mp) + use of poison barb (10mp) = 170mp

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] is there anything in jayden's life that he doesn't take seriously?

[break][break] even if there is, it certainly isn't this.

[break][break] he thinks back on a conversation he had with THEO BECKETT, anxiety spreading like a heat in his stomach.

[break][break] the whistle isn't heard, but it isn't because the speaker doesn't catch it. his bloodied fingers catch around the wires of his earpiece, heart pulled into his throat.

[break][break] "no - i - " he swallows, throat dry. "i didn't mean it like that."

[break][break] once again, he turns a corner. dewford's fog drags on the ground, clouding around his shoulders like a cape. and in that faint smog, he can finally see them — or what he thinks is them.

[break][break] violet eyes search for endless teal.

[break][break] "you love me?" he repeats.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

fern delaney

[break] + COMMS [2/2]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"]The conversation twists in a direction they don’t know how to decipher. Because of course they had to open their stupid mouth. Some semblance of normalcy only just returned to how they orbited around one another. And now here they are, throwing another wrench into matters. How did he fucking stand them?[break][break]

“How else could it be meant?” they answer, voice pathetically small, the flutter of anxiety and nerves a shared experience–not over what he says, but rather what he doesn’t say.[break][break]

“I do,” they manage to mutter back, the haughty edge to their tone quickly fading. “I thought I was obvious enough.”[break][break]

You know, giving him a love token…following him off the edge of a cliff. Just the little things. Totally chill.[break][break]

Fern clocks the crunch of gravel not far behind them, and they turn. And there he is. He’s closed the distance, but they’re rooted to the spot, heart in their throat. It’s not lost on them that it hasn’t been returned. But they don’t voice that creeping worry.[break][break]

As their eyes connect in the lowlight, all they manage is to nod at him. Silently emphasizing their initial response to the question.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

jayden cross

[break] + COMMS [1/2]
[break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x11 (110mp) + paranoid from the deep sea (10mp) + use of poison barb (10mp) = 180mp

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] they love him.

[break][break] his heart thuds loudly in his ears, the sound of a roaring waterfall, even though they're nowhere near the borders. dewford's fog rolls in, threatening to encase them in obscurity; but even in that, violet eyes manages to find theirs. they always will.

[break][break] no matter what.

[break][break] they love him.

[break][break] there are only a handful of people in jayden's life that he's heard that from. it's something that often goes unsaid. he thinks of the people who are tied to him intrinsically through trauma — THEO BECKETT. Cillian Quinn. Ashley Shepard. thinks about the people like mint frost who are innocent enough to be able to say those words outloud, not knowing what it means, or how it could hurt.

[break][break] he thinks about people who haven't said it back to him.

[break][break] Chu-e Choi.

[break][break] they love him.

[break][break] his eyes widen only briefly, face flooding with emotion — more emotion than he's ever shown in his entire lifetime. he stumbles forward against the rock, vulnerable. what are the words that he could say that could encompass how he feels for them? what in the world would be enough?

[break][break] i love you too.

[break][break] you are everything to me, the sun to my stars, my whole life.

[break][break] zhizn moya.

[break][break] his mouth opens to form the words, and he's so vulnerable in that moment, he doesn't realize that there are shadows behind him forming in the shapes of men. all armed. one who aims to plunge a sword into jayden's neck.

[break][break] because all jayden can see in that moment is fern delaney.

[break][break] all he ever wants to see.

[break][break] "fern, i —"

[break][break] slash.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

fern delaney

[break] + COMMS [2/2]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"]For a moment, they can only fixate on him. How prone he looks from what feels like a simple admission from them. Of course it’s not simple. Nothing about those words will ever be simple, and especially not to someone like jayden cross. They don’t know the details, they don’t know all of the traumas that are wrapped up under that mysterious surface that they were teasing him for only minutes before.[break][break]

But it doesn’t matter, because they love him regardless.[break][break]

It’s all right there, written in his expression as time slows down to a crawl. Stretching out to impossible lengths as figures emerge behind him. Their face falls, because he doesn’t turn. He doesn’t move against the sudden onslaught, and for the second time in a matter of weeks, they feel their blood run cold at the concept of loss in motion.[break][break]

Again, the rush of adrenaline. The movement of their body without reason or thought. Instinct flaring up to take control, to heed the warning thump of their heart on the precipice of cracking into pieces.[break][break]

“Medb,” they hiss as they reach for him. Fingers curl like a vice grip at the front of his jacket and yank him toward them. Quick and solid in a tangible way they hadn’t been able to manage that night at the border. Instead of closing around empty air, Fern feels the thud of him bumping against them.[break][break]

Their dragapult phases back into view in tandem with the movement, her tail swinging up to block against the swing of the weapon as her body twists and morphs. Solid on contact, then dissipating and fading as the knife carries through.[break][break]

They don’t wait. They don’t wait to see if it’s real or imagined.[break][break]

They don’t wait to see if he’s alright, or if he’s realized what’s happening.[break][break]

They don’t wait, they’ve wasted so much time waiting.[break][break]

Their hand slides down, away from jacket fabric to find his hand. It’s real and there, and he’s not fighting against them.[break][break]

“Mischa. Run.”[break][break]

Fern tugs him and takes off the way they’d come, time speeding up again in furious motion. The sound of metal whistling through the air. The angry reptilian growls of the phantasmic dragon. Apparition and shadow pitted against one another.[break][break]

They’ve waited so long to say what they meant out in the open air so that it can’t be taken back. They won’t wait so long now that they lose something now that it’s finally within their reach.[break][break]

Now that he finally feels within reach.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

jayden cross

[break] + COMMS [1/2]
[break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x12 (120mp) + paranoid from the deep sea (10mp) + use of poison barb (10mp) + assist another player (10mp) = 200mp

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] facial expressions have never been jayden's strongsuit. as long as anyone had ever known him, he was well known for his impassive, nearly stone-cold expression. the apathetic gleam of his eyes that had branded him long-ago as one of rocket's most loyal soldiers.

[break][break] 'emotionless,' other grunts would've called him.

[break][break] 'cruel,' those like parker jones would say.

[break][break] but this time, all the emotion is scrawled on his face, like a painting worth a thousand words.

[break][break] or maybe it was just that fern delaney could always read him so well.

[break][break] jayden stumbles forward as the other admin tugs him against them, sharp, and it's enough to bring jayden back to his senses. his hands wrap protectively around their shoulder, dagger flashing out with an empty hand. the weapon is thrust with pinpoint accuracy — plunged into the heart of the leaguer who had been attempting to kill him.

[break][break] his hands tangle around fern's own, warm and sure. they sprint their way down the way they'd come, together, and away from the sounds of warfare as astlik joins medb in an assault on the rest of their attackers.

[break][break] minutes later, they've come to safety. it strikes jayden with a sense of familiarity — the same moment that they had after jayden had saved them from jail. but now it's fern who'd saved him.

[break][break] his eyes are tender and warm as he reaches for them, thumb brushing their cheeks, before impulsively diving down in a kiss.

[break][break] "thank you," he murmurs reverently against their lips.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

fern delaney

[break] + COMMS [2/2]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"]Both dragapult make a formidable pair. Perhaps as tough as Ceci and Vahagn are together, though less trained alongside one another. Not as tamed as Ceci, though, Medb takes cue from Astlik—mirroring brutality as she tears into the would-be pursuants.[break][break]

But Fern is too busy pulling Jayden away and running as fast as they can—granted they’re not the fastest of individuals but adrenaline and strange, nostalgic deja vu field them. Unlike that incident at the mall, though, this moment feels weightier with what they’ve said.[break][break]

What they’ve admitted.[break][break]

What hasn’t been returned.[break][break]

The anxiety that flares up around his accidental declaration fades when their steps finally slow to a stop and he pulls them close. The hand cupping their face weakens the self-imposed toughness they went into this day with and Fern melts into the kiss. Eyes falling shut as they struggle to both catch their breath from that sprint, and keep their lips pressed together.[break][break]

Their hands, curled against his chest, slip up to rest against the sides of his neck as they return the thanks with another short peck before leaning back enough to study his face. “Well, looks like I’ve just done a favor for you,” they tease, then shake their head.[break][break]

“Always. Anytime.” There’s never any question of it.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

jayden cross

[break] + COMMS [1/2]
[break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x13 (130mp) + paranoid from the deep sea (10mp) + use of poison barb (10mp) + assist another player (10mp) = 210mp

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] like snow melting into spring, it's so easy to fall into fern delaney's touch.

[break][break] he kisses them like he means it, like he's always meant it. but there are some things that only words can convey.

[break][break] always, anytime.

[break][break] "forever and always," he murmurs.

[break][break] he presses their foreheads together, relishing in the warmth that they provide him. the stability. it was only ever fern that was ever able to pull him out of the darkness of his thoughts -- something that, lately, he'd desperately needed.

[break][break] violet eyes blinks open to look at fern delaney with the kind of tenderness that words cannot convey.

[break][break] "fern, i - "

[break][break] before he can speak the obvious, however, there is an urgent ring through their comm devices. this one is from Felix Gallagher, who calls for his aid. urgently.

[break][break]

"gallagher here. cross, south entrance. Remiel Calcifet spotted."

[break] his veins turn to ice, and his emotionless demeanor returns.

[break][break] even so, there is a small crack in it's interior as he looks at fern delaney, eyes full of regret. he pulls away from them, fingertips lingering.

[break][break] "stay safe, duck."

[break][break] i love you.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

fern delaney

[break] + COMMS [2/2]

[attr="class","credit"]☉

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"]They can’t stay like this—of course they can’t. No matter how much they’d prefer it to their other obligations for the day.[break][break]

Before he can finish his thought, the alert comes through the comm. Fern’s eyes fall shut again, and their lips press together as they breath slow through their nose to redirect the heavy, frustrated sigh that wants to fall free.[break][break]

When it comes to matters like duty, they know they can’t win. There would be no point in trying.[break][break]

Their voice feels weak and small when they speak. “Go. You’re needed.”[break][break]

They don’t want him to, though. They want him to stay with them even if that had never been a part of the plan. They want him in their sight at all times. They want him close.[break][break]

They would beg, if they could bring themself to be so selfish.[break][break]

Normally, that’s not an issue.[break][break]

Blue eyes wide and stupidly sad as he pulls back, Fern shakes their head and lets their hand cover his for one last moment. “I think I should be the one saying that to you, love.”[break][break]

They withdraw. Ache in the center of their chest, but they steel up their resolve and smile. “Find me later, okay?”[break][break]

Too cowardly to repeat their words from earlier though they desperately wish to.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

jayden cross

[break] + COMMS [1/2]
[break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x14 (140mp) + paranoid from the deep sea (10mp) + use of poison barb (10mp) + assist another player (10mp) + comm mission complete (100mp) + win mission (200mp) = 520mp

[attr="class","credit"]☉