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Watts readjusted himself in the bed, moving to lay his head on Jack's thigh where Jack sat on the edge of the bed watching his phone. Jack alternated between guilt at abandoning his friend without a word and trepidation that the man would just decline to respond or curse him out for ghosting him. Jack's heart leapt as the speech bubble animation appeared on his phone screen to indicate the Zev was responding. He imagined his handsome, for an old guy at least, friend arriving home in his neatly kept work clothes standing in the doorway texting him back as he returned from the bar.[break][break]

The text was already open when his phone vibrated and Jack sat up straighter in bed as his eyes took in the message. Relief flooded him at Zev's genial response and a he could feel his face hurt from how wide his smile had grown. Zev's a true friend, I should have known he wouldn't blow me off no matter how long I had been gone. Excitedly he tapped out a response.[break]



Jack waited a brief moment before adding:


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The grass flattened in a circle around them as Poe landed on Route 103 and Jack slid from the corviknight's back. He was tempted to light up a cigarette since smoking was near impossible while flying, but he could see his friend coming up the road from Oldale. A wide grin spread across Jack's face he pulled a bottle of Mount Chimney whiskey from his fashionable, electric-yellow day pack and forced it into Zev's hands. "Hey, thanks for coming! Watts says hi too; he was mad when I told him he couldn't join us," Jack said with an exaggerated wince at leaving the boltund behind.[break][break]

Jack's brow furrowed as a bit of nervousness struck him after going so long with seeing his friend. "Really though, thanks for coming. I know you work late nights and I messaged out of the blue and I've been gone for a while," he rambled. "But I'm really glad you're here," he finished lamely. Feeling a flush of embarrassment beginning to creep up his cheeks, he turned and gestured further up the road.[break][break]

"Definitely the right spot for us though," he said as he gestured. "I couldn't get much closer in the air, but it is definitely like the swarm we dealt with in Slateport."

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That's just like Zev to be so concerned about where Jack had been. For what must have been the hundredth time today, Jack felt grateful to have such a caring friend. Even still, Jack wasn't sure how to respond until he opened his mouth and blurted out, "I was trying to help out in Galar and my parents are dead." Like a dam breaking, the words flooded out of Jack in a torrent as they walked: the uncertainty of leaving Hoenn when the dome disappeared, the chaos of his homeland after the Necrozma attacks and his missing parents, the constant fear even though he stayed to help others in their time of need, the continual ache to contact his friends back in Hoenn while communications systems were down across Galar, and the time he thought he lost Watts when a burning apartment building collapsed on them while they were evacuating residents.[break][break]

"I think Watts is proud of the burn scar, though. I know he can't wait to show Luna," Jack finished, somewhat lamely. "But what about you? Things weren't great here when I left, have you been okay?"[break][break]

Even as he talked, Jack scanned the sky for any sign that the combee swam had taken notice of them. Just like in Slateport, the swam was aggressive but kept mainly to the air. Still, a dead tauros surrounded by the crushed bodies of several combee was visible at the edge of the pavement near them. If they didn't resolve the issue soon, the route would be impassable to travelers or commerce soon. The continuous buzz of the tiny bee pokemon seemed to fill his chest as he waited for his friend's response.

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Giving the group of corpses a width berth, Jack stepped from the roadway and veered off through the tall grass toward the trees. "Girlfriend, eh?" Jack asked with a waggle of his eyebrows, "I can't wait to meet her. She must be some woman to have captured such an eligible bachelor!" He attempted to keep a joking tone though his teeth were almost vibrating with the buzzing drone of the combee overhead.[break][break]

The grove of trees seemed to shimmer as they approached and once they were close enough, Jack saw that a hive had been built within the grove. The trees formed a dense outer perimeter, like a fortress wall, with the waxy walls of the hive filling the gaps between them. Crouched low, Jack motioned for his companion to stop. "We'll need to make a run for it from here unless we plan to fight off a thousand of them. Poe can cover us from the air and once we are inside, he can seal the door so we won't need to worry about extra attendees at the party," Jack gestured to the hexagonal opening in the waxy surface between two broad trees as he yelled over the deep buzz of the pokemon.[break][break]

The corviknight launched into the air as Jack burst to his feet from where they had been crouching. He could feel the moment they were noticed by the combee; the buzzing drone of the pokemon deepened into an angry thrum and the sky seemed to undulate as hundred of individuals turned with one mind to defend their hive. Jack pumped his arms and legs hard as he sprinted toward the entry to the hive and he could hear stingers pinging off of Poe's metallic feathers directly over head. As the dark opening of the hive loomed ahead, he dove in without hesitation and called out for Poe's steel wing. He felt the corviknight's wings slice through the air as he spread them like a metal shield over the entryway, leaving them in the deep twilight gloom of the hive.

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