[attr="class","spiral"] "hhaaawwnhhh."

fernando let's out a long and troubled sigh as he bears himself naked in the small changing room. it is his mind and not his body that's failing him. circling back on the curriculum he's drafted for Stormy Silph has taken a lot more out of him than he expected. the lessons plan aren't too difficult but finding a way to break them down into simple terms that even she cannot misconstrue proves challenging. it requires a lot of effort and fernando can only pray that the rewards will be worth it.

his mind wanders and fernando barely catches himself about to exit butt ass naked. fuck. being self aware of his own breaking point is a good sign but that doesn't negate it. he still has to tend to himself and that's why he's made the conscious decision to bathe in lavaridge's infamous hot springs.

"hmmm."

the council man verbally thinks to himself as he wraps a loose, small towel around his waist. even thought its a mixed bath, everyone should be aware of their own nakedness. the horror of accidentally revealing himself to others doesn't cross his mind even once and fernando chalks it up to being cultural. for now, his towel keeps him covered, but only barely.

thoughtless to the point of being defenseless, fernando opens the door into the mixed bath and slowly starts to step in. the heat against his toes promise him a good time and he wades his way straight in.

"ahhhhhh."

it's a sound he doesn't make often and never in public. only few have heard such a sweet sound from the council's most serious member and none of them have any business being here.

[attr="class","spiral"] her voice is familiar but fernando can't pinpoint who it is. not between everything that's happened and the many people he's encountered. so, instead of relying on memory, he lets his eyes answer his question. lo and behold, if it isn't his favorite ex-gym leader.

"francie," he answers, if only because her last name escapes him at the time.

among all the headaches of the region, there are few people he holds in well regards. somehow, the girl next door of petalburg has been one that fernando finds both lovely and a role model for the new iterations of gym leaders that he has to manage. "you're back?"

[attr="class","spiral"] fernando is far from being on the same page as her. when he says 'back', he's content with just her existence in the region. time has taught him that gym leaders are fickle people, fraught with danger and buckling under the weight of their responsibilities. there will be opportunities to rise to the occasion but what is more important is having the right people. just having her in the region adds another chess piece to the board, one he assumes will play for him before anyone else. it almost reminds him of cait alfric, an aspiring trainer with an untapped potential, nestled as a hidden gem among those with much louder voices.

"a region in constant strife needs people to turn to. they don't make them like they used to, not like you," faux flattery comes in many forms and fernando's mastered the precise way to grin to come off as both earnest and charismatic. it's the same grin he uses when he wants something but no one capable of reading him has seen it more than once. his body continues to sink underneath the water's steamy surface until he's laying neck deep. "but we've managed through grit and tenacity."

[attr="class","spiral"] "understandable." fernando sinks even further and dips his head underneath. several bubbles arise before he breaches the water's surface, hair wet and refreshed by the warm splash of water against his face. "people may judge you for your actions but no one will fault you for your cause. family is one of the most precious things a person can protect." which is ironic coming from a silph.

"i am." the change in her color is disregarded as a juvenile embarrassment due to their relative proximity or the fact that she's been soaking for far too long. fernando concerns himself with neither but keeps a watchful eye, just in case it's the latter. "i'm training lavaridge's gym leader, bronwen llewelyn. it's been demanding, to say the least."

[attr="class","spiral"] her inquiry towards bronwen's training is met with the only acceptable answer fernando can induce. he submerges himself into the hot springs and hopes to drown. only when the need to breath forces him up does he emerge. the inhale he huffs is both out of necessity and frustration. he is not meant to teach from scratch.

"i've seen better days. honestly, i'm getting old." wet hair sticks to his skin and for the first time in forever, fernando allows himself to uncoil.

[attr="class","spiral"] "three years, huh?" time is relative and for him, his tenure in hoenn feels like an eternity. forget silph co. ignore the traveling and pokemon he's caught. take out the new transition of team rocket and the dastardly things he's help set up as well as take down. what's left is just his activities within the league and that in itself is draining enough to leave him spiritually withered.

"factor in the extra hours i'm awake and i wouldn't be surprised if that difference was thirty." he grimaces, wiggling his toes underneath to let the water flow between every nook and cranny. "twenty-seven, by the way. you missed my birthday."

he sighs. "so, how was your time away from hoenn?"

[attr="class","spiral"] wrong move, ouch. fernando can hear her the dismay in her voice. he had meant it at a joke but his tone had been lacking. his action may seems lax for his character but at the end of the day, fernando was fernando. jokes come out blunt and his tone is too monotone to reflect the humor found in others. but that's not what makes him abrasive, it's his inability to reach out and correct himself.

yet, somehow, he manages to muster a confession out of her. it leaves him dumbstruck and his features relax into an apprehensive neutral. he sinks a little more until the water touched the rim of his upper lip. anything to help hide the subtle signs of confusion as his lower lip curls upwards.

francie misses him of all people? the statement sounds weird on paper, considering the little time they've spent together but the memory of their breakfast tickles the back of his mind. he attributes it to her overtly tenderhearted nature and appreciates her for who she is. dainty, pleasant, wholesome. all the qualities he values in a person while leaving them prone to being exploited. who better than the sweetheart of petalburg? how positively delicious.

and, of course, fernando's left to stare at her, speechless. only once he notices the awkwardness of not responding does he rise, ever so slightly, "i missed you too, francie."