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The eleventh year… [break]
I BEEN TRYNNA GIVE IT TO YA ALL NIGHT, [break][break]
Much like their arrival and the frantic way they’d settled into Galar, the same happens. A period of high stress followed by peace. Except it's more quiet. The poison receding, the work with the charts and the stars, the progress of
DYNAMAX BANDS it all serves as a reminder Mint had nearly forgotten: they are alien in a world not of their own. And despite settling into routines, lifestyles, highs and lows of the medieval era he remembers a decade has passed since Rocket and League appeared in Galar. [break][break]
He remembers Calyrex’s instructions- his omens. And he waits with bated breath for something that comes so painfully slow. [break][break]
The year passes and he feels stiff, itchy. It’s like he’s 10 years younger, aching to get out of this dream. But soon enough, by the next royal ball, he’s swept down in the undercurrent of Balloonlea, his work, and
bryan delarosa. And the wait and worry for what is to come is suppressed under a myriad of other stimuli. [break][break]
And in a way, Mint welcomes the distraction as he always had. [break][break]
The thirteenth year… [break]
WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE TO GETCHA ALL ALONE? [break][break]
Mint is still alone, standing in a sea of calm with an invisible riptide underneath. He spends time with Tortellini and Gnocci almost every day. The old, floating companions stiff and old from wounds that never quite healed, and poison that never quite disappeared. He’d taken his Beheeyem to
Elisabeth Fiorelli once and she hadn’t been able to heal the psychic type, not completely. And for his Weezing, beautifully colored and happy as the green and pink beach ball was, he became slower, perhaps a bit more ditzy than before. [break][break]
But Mint loves them both all the same. He doesn’t ask them to fight for him, defend them as they had so valiantly before. He allows himself to love them, openly, fully. [break][break]
Pokemon are tools for Rocket’s use
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Sure. But in this moment, this dream, they are his beloved companions he wouldn’t sacrifice for the world. And perhaps it was weak, soft hearted for a Beast- and advisor of the crown. But Mint would sooner cut down whoever directed so much as a glare at his pokemon. After all, they knew his heart the best didn’t they? Watching over him during his loneliest nights, when all that echoed in his chambers is the quiet sobs of a tired man. [break][break]
Beloved creatures. Wonderful companions. Adorable, in their own way. Mint buries them in a small grove near a babbling brook. The sounds of water mask his weeping. Knees in loamy earth, the tears come easily and trickle down his face. His hands shake, and he’s unable to do it: he cannot break their pokeballs. He clutched them both to his person having wanted so badly to believe that it wasn’t their time. That they would stay with him. Mint had thrown away his pride and begged
bryan delarosa and Xerneas for help. Now he was alone, sobbing over the pokeballs he’d promised to bury with them. [break][break]
“It’s not fair.” [break][break]
He gasps for breath as he feels a hand wipe away his tears. [break][break]
“It’s not fair!!”
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Big arms wrap around his crumpled form and his body returns the gesture, snapping up anything to distract himself from this. He squeezes hard, crying as he begs once again, for
bryan delarosa not to leave him alone tonight.
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The fourteenth year… [break]
I JUST WANTCHA HERE BY MY SIDE, [break][break]
fern delaney is his oldest friend. There to listen as the pair work and toil in Fern’s apothecary. Marriage and children had not stopped them from spending time together and Mint understood. He would find ways to himself into his and
jayden cross’s schedules. It’s not…ideal, but he would take what he could get. He works around them, he waits his turn. They are his friends, yes, but they are also monarchs bound by duty to Baloonlea. [break][break]
But one day, he needs them desperately. One day he boils over. One day he is overwhelmed. He seeks out Jayden, nauseous as he seeks out his advice. After all, he knew
bryan delarosa better than
fern delaney right? He finds them with ease, smiling softly at the children. Maritza takes his entire attention despite his little wave at Aisling. He watches over her, nodding and offering her a pat on the head, and kisses her on the crown. He doesn’t seem to mind her pulling at long locks of blue. Jayden speaks and he finds himself quiet with Maritza and Aisling itching to play in his lap and at his feet. He gives a soft apology when servants take the children away before looking back at Jayden. He spills what’s been on his mind. The things he can’t understand about their mutual friend, the worries he has about his own shortcomings, and the unease he feels moving forward. [break][break]
Jayden’s words are soft, gentle. With a kindness he hasn't felt in ages. Wrapped up in his self pity, and frustration Mint has blocked out the good of Balloonlea. Perhaps, he’s simply naive. He latches on to these small moments of good- of kind mercy. Perhaps
Michaelis Fisk is alive and well, clawing his way to the very top to cry and scream and beg for worth. [break][break]
He knew this wasn't
jayden cross's specialty. That love, relationships weren't his forte. But Jayden is also one of his oldest friends. He adored him- trusted him. He valued his point of view. So when Jayden tells him, [break][break]
"Love can hurt" [break][break]
He allows himself to say something he's only whispered to
Elisabeth Fiorelli and his pillow. [break][break]
"It's love, isn't it?" [break][break]
His words hang in the air as warm fills his chest and shivers run down his spine. His body fighting itself as he spoke. His eyes turn from glassy, to misty. Tears bubble up at the sides as he entire body tightens up. [break][break]
"It's love." He sobs, porcelain calm breaking as he still begs for it to not be true. [break][break]
"It's love…" Mint says with finality, as a shaking hand reaches up to wipe his tears, sobs turning to gasps and wails as he realizes the cruelty of it all.
[break][break]
mint frost crumples, utterly broken by the realization that he had fallen into the one trap he had guarded himself from for so long. Why else would he hold out hope for so long? Why else would he forgive so much? Maybe this is the danger of falling so deep into his own friendships. It made him so incredibly vulnerable. [break][break]
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The fifteenth year… [break]
I DON'T WANNA BE HERE, BABY, ON MY OWN, [break][break]
Travel is becoming far easier it seems.
Hideo Kino tells him of the receding poison and the less frequent appearance of the sludge monsters out in the wild. This comes up during one of their horse grooming sessions. He speaks of his and
John Sullivan’s plans to move more. Though, they already had been? Mint laughs with ease, offers to send Dough off with a batch of glow shrooms to eat and a pat on the head. The brats, both Hideo and Doug, dodge his attack. One takes his hair, the other ruffles his hair much to Mint’s annoyance. [break][break]
Quick slaps are administered, and he rips his wide brimmed hat back despite their laughs. His glare holds no real edge and soon enough the younger trainers have him laughing along with them too. He considers it, noting it’d been a while since he’d last seen
Elisabeth Fiorelli. His updates with
BARNABY FINCH were nice but nothing like seeing the real thing. [break][break]
It’s a particularly rough night that leads to Mint’s trips to increase. An ever delicate balance of being here and not kept somehow. Mint is alone with Bryan once more, and he asks as he sometimes does. He asks about
them. He asks about
why they still do this. He asks if Bryan is even happy with him. [break][break]
And when he tries not to answer- when he tries to change the subject or distract him, Mint simmers and bubbles. He boils over and overflows. He speaks cruelly to his friend. He turns perfectly sharpened fangs on Bryan, using against him a skill he had only seen Mint use on others. He taunts-
he hurts. He picks at any and everything until he lands on the worst one of all:
priam conrad [break][break]
“Is this how you were with him?!” His fists are clenched, his jaw is set. Soft green eyes narrowed in a glare so rarely used against someone so close to him. [break][break]
"I'm not gonna fucking talk about him so stop-" But he doesn’t, overflowing with
RESENTMENT that he squarely direct at the guilty party. [break][break]
“I feel fucking sorry for priam conrad, for having to be stuck with you if this is how you treat the people you-” He doesn’t get to finish. [break][break]
His vision goes white, and his head goes back bumping against the tree bark. His entire body is frozen, pain signals going off everywhere and his mouth hanging open as he tries to remember how to breathe after all the air is forcefully expelled from his lunch. And at that moment, he felt cold, afraid. He’s defenseless as Bryan stalks up to him, furious. But then he gasps, ice crystals blooming at his fingertips as branches curl around him.
BLIZZARD cuts between them to give him time to recover, clear his mind for the pending fight. [break][break]
The Wolf, Bryan may be, but The Sheep Mint was not. [break][break]
And he leaves the very next day with
BARNABY FINCH. Not in a hurry, with his tail between his legs. But angry, shoulders squared and head held high despite the limp in his step and the bruises over his neck and body. [break][break]
This wasn’t over. If it were that simple, the push and pull of the tides knows at
mint frost and
bryan delarosa would’ve ended years ago. [break][break]
His friendship with
BARNABY FINCH grows. Perhaps it slides too close to flirt a couple of times, but that is simply how the two are. For the most part, Mint chatters along with him while they ride together on the occasion he doesn't pass out in the courier’s arms. He assists with his work in return for the spot on his Spectrier. He buys him food and drink. [break][break]
Through many voyages, he opens up to the man. He confesses his love troubles, his insecurities. He laughs and sighs in the same breath when it comes to Bryan. Barnaby listens, he tries to help. He does a good job in wingmanning the Beast. They grow close. Mint dares call him a good friend. It is during those nights, where Bee can secure a companion for him, that he dares feel at peace. Wanted. Precious. [break][break] [break][break]
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And his broken heart only comes back together, piece by piece at the sight of friends in other cities. Despite the tear stained confessions, he never shows his grief to the young ones.
Elisabeth Fiorelli’s Lisette is just as much of a joy as Balloonlea’s royal children. And he greets her in surprise, eyes on Elisabeth before breaking into a smile that could rival the Sun in its brightness. He speaks with her, plays with her. He takes her out of the dour mansion, escorts her around town. He spoils her rotten because he can just like the godchildren he was so fond of. [break][break]
And he does the same to Elisabeth. Where Barnaby may have shied away from Lisette, Mint wholeheartedly embraces her. Literally and otherwise. He coaxes Elisabeth out of her tower, he escorts the pair around town. He brings gifts, so many collected trinkets and treats for both women. He finds joy in them where he cannot in others. [break][break] [break][break]
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The remaining years… [break]
YEAH, DONTCHA WAIT- DON'T THINK ABOUT IT, [break][break][break]
He is aware of the monarchs going together to hold a congress- state of the union? Something. But when
jayden cross,
Rhydia Ver, and
luka chêne come back they seem dour. And with the development of the stars and the revelation that there was a concrete Doomsday, the preparations of their forces cranks up. [break][break]
He receives a
DYNAMAX band, and practices, letting various members of his team try it. Straciatella takes to it the least. He attributes it to her MEGASTONE and TERA SHARDS. Tiramisu is much the same. Carbonara, his fluffy baby girl, takes to it the best. And she is chosen to bear the might of the new, and dangerous phenomenon. The Winter Solstice. The end times. [break][break]
Mint goes to Bryan one last time. Even after all this time, all these years, he can't help but gravitate towards him. Comrades. Friends. Lovers. It’s all a tangled mess of emotion that neither seems to call a mistake. Before the eve of the Solstice he asks, calm and clear: [break][break]
“Why wasn’t I ever good enough for you?” [break][break]
“Do you really want to waste your life on me?” [break][break]
Mint looks up at Bryan, his visage unchanged with maybe the addition of a few scars here and there. Mint is different, long hair, tied up under his witch’s hat. Youthful cheeks sharpened. Smile lines and crow's feet settling into his skin. But the grin he shoots Wolf is classic Neon. [break][break]
“I do. I did.” There’s a pause, seafoam green eyes unblinking in their stare. “It’s not a waste if it’s love.”
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He had to believe that all this is worth something. It's too painful to let himself believe otherwise. But it's also true that the little affection Bryan had given him, had never been enough for Mint. [break][break]
PRPGToOA
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[attr="class","title"]TLDR;
@any rocket |
20 year time skip DRIP |
the toxic brynt playlist [break][break]
- year 11: hyper vigilance + support of the crown [break]
- year 13: gnocci the beheeyem and tortellini the weezing die. goes to bryan for help and then comfort. [break]
- year 14: goes to jayden for horrible love advice, realizes he's in lvoe with bryan. congratulations played urself. [break]
- year 15: chilling with hideo and doug and thinks about travel, gets in a fight with bryan, and brings up priam top terrible results, fucks off the next day with barnaby without a word. bee helps him fuck his issues away for a little bit. meets and spoils lisette, forces elisabeth out on the town fuck the haters and fuck motostoke elisa on TOP!! [break]
- years 16-20: prepares with dynamaxing, goes hard on training for balloon town, has one last talk with bryan before the final night that goes nowhere. [break]