They were so close. Navy turns to give Josh another confident smile, tell him everything is going to be okay. There’s words already moving from his lungs to his lips.[break][break]

Then, Josh shatters the glass. Oblivious, almost like a child, he shows how divorced from reality he truly is when Raikou is mentioned. Warmth leaves Navy’s eyes. His smile fades. He looks dull at first. Dazed, like he’s just been punched. He processes what Josh tells him.[break][break]

"I think the death of your brother and what happened to Raikou affected us in similar ways. I can tell."[break][break]

He’s stunned. Navy fights his way through the silence. Tries to keep the anger within from exploding out.[break][break]

“Josh…” Navy’s voice is soft at first, like he himself is unsure he wants to go down this road. His eyes soon meet the younger man’s, and there is no warmth in the grey. Just cold gunmetal.[break][break]

“…what’re your parents’ names?” It’s an odd question. Out of place in the discussion. There’s pain in that anger. “You ever think how fucked up it is that you’ve talked about Raikou so much, you give so much of a shit about some big yellow dog that you’d nearly kill someone over them, but you barely talk about your family? When’s the last time you called them?”[break][break]

There’s anger in his eyes. He’s chained in place by respect for Josh, rapidly dwindling, and his own code to not throw a punch unless he’s going all out.[break][break]

“You have a family! You can call your parents any time you want! And they’re not so fucked in the head they beat you ‘cause they lost at the gambling corner. I dropped out of school for my brother, dude. I dodged gangs for him. I worked three shitty jobs so he wouldn’t go into the foster system, which is fucked in Hoenn, by the way. And you think Rockets killing someone you have never met is like that? Raikou doesn’t give you an excuse to be a shitty person. Raikou doesn’t exist, Josh. Not as you know him. He’s just some fucked up excuse. And yeah, I’ve done some fucked up shit in Gabe’s name, but…”[break][break]

He seethes, scalds, burns like an inferno.[break][break]

“Come back to me when you see your parents’ brains splattered on a morgue table, half their damn skull hanging out, and tell me our experiences are the same.”[break][break]

Silence.[break][break]

“We’ll figure it out. I’ll call you. Immature as you are, Hoenn still needs you.” The last word he throws is like a punch aimed right for Josh’s gut.[break][break]

“Go.”


[break][break]

+ Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]