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Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

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TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Oct 20, 2023 19:54:23 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]The second Isaac heard the news, he came running. Literally; by this point, no body of water could stop him.[break][break]

Checking the news for recent hospitalizations had become somewhat of a morbid hobby of his. After seeing firsthand how dangerous a defector's life could be, a part of him always wondered what name would pop up next in the paper. Would they be as protected as he had been? Would they fall into such caring hands? Or would they be tossed aside, spurned for who they were?[break][break]

If any did pop up, Isaac decided, he'd be there for them. He'd heal them how John Sullivan had and tend to them how Eris Halla did. He'd protect them like Michael Navidson, both from the machinations of Rockets lurking in the shadows and from the judging eyes of Hoenn's upper echelon.[break][break]

Saying that was easy. Doing it was another, and a familiar face was about to put him to the test.[break][break]

Isaac wasn't chained down anymore, but he wasn't exactly free. His injuries had healed, but phantom pains still found him as he tried to sleep. He'd passed muster from elites, rangers, and the HBIC alike, but crisis after crisis interrupted his official induction into amnesty. With no home of his own, he'd just hung around Dewford's facilities like some kind of stray cat.[break][break]

Even if he was monitored, it wouldn't have made a difference. Isaac was as the north wind now, and nothing could pin him down if he didn't want to be. He'd walk the stormy seas between Dewford and Rustboro as if he owned them, then return to his post the way he always did.[break][break]

It wasn't every day that a man came striding over the cresting waves, asking if visiting hours had started. The poor, befuddled hospital staff almost had no choice but to let him in. He approached the door, his voice all too familiar as he knocked at the other side. "Hello?"

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — giada morgan [break]
NOTES — notes go here

[newclass=".isaac2"] --color:#c4c067; [/newclass]
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played by

nikki

gia, gigi

she/her

november 12th

celadon city, kanto

bisexual

ex-thief

???

5'6" height

when the lights go out and i'm all alone again.

awards

707 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @giada

POSTED ON Oct 22, 2023 2:48:54 GMT

[attr="class","giada"]
[attr="class","giada b"]
[attr="class","giada i”]his voice echoes against pristine walls and for a moment, she's transported to a different place - familiar yet off. it settles in her body like a stone, dropping anxiety down into her stomach.

they had been on the same team before, the same alignment to a lost cause. has it changed? or will he finish what the underboss had started? she has a feeling, perhaps, but she's been cut off from any intel of note to be aware of his recent change.

faintly, her voice echoes back. it's soft, wavering.

"hey."

and when he bypasses the door frame, he'll see her propped up against pillows with a slightly pink stained piece of gauze taped over one eye. she looks uncomfortable, yet not quite in pain. morphine drips steadily from an iv on a timed basis as the wound slowly mends itself after surgery.

"what're you doing here?"

Isaac Merlo

[newclass=.giada] text-align: justify; text-transform: lowercase; font-size: 12px; [/newclass]
[newclass=.giada b] color: #A22041; font-size: 13px; [/newclass]
[newclass=.giada i] text-decoration: underline dotted #A22041; font-size: 13px; [/newclass]

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played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

949 height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

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TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Oct 22, 2023 3:09:41 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]Arceus, they both looked so different now. Were it not for their unmistakable voices, it would have seemed like an encounter between two perfect strangers. Even the number of eyes between them had shifted. The pink-stained gauze atop Gia's eye was a darkly perfect mirror to the vibrant pink iris of Isaac's own restored one.[break][break]

"Hey, you. Had a feeling you'd be up."[break][break]

The girl was as stubborn as they'd come. He'd learned that the hard way after she had to put up with his cryptic ass on their mission. When navigating Rocket, such secrecy was required. Her willingness to try and cut through the bullshit was admirable, as was the trust she put in him when he'd finally put it aside. If she could handle that, she could handle a little bit of pain.[break][break]

There was no need for any of that now. They could leave their masks behind, and with it the concern that knit Isaac's brow was all too apparent. His eye met hers, or at least the one that remained. No more lies. No more excuses. No more dancing around the issue, even if it put him at risk.[break][break]

"I left." From the trepidation in Gia's voice, Isaac wasn't sure if she'd known or not. Did they make it out around the same time? Or had she "quiet quit" Rocket by the time the notice of his treason went out, only to go for the real deal shortly after? "And I've been keeping an eye out for anyone that did the same. To try and stop them from having to go through the shit I did."[break][break]

"Guessing I'm too late." Memories of the eye Ashley Shepard dragged across his eye hit him, a phantom pain erupting through his skull. It was a fate he wouldn't have wished upon anyone. Why'd Gia have to get a taste firsthand. "What happened?"

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — giada morgan [break]
NOTES — notes go here

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played by

nikki

gia, gigi

she/her

november 12th

celadon city, kanto

bisexual

ex-thief

???

5'6" height

when the lights go out and i'm all alone again.

awards

707 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @giada

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2023 4:29:19 GMT

[attr="class","giada"]
[attr="class","giada b"]
[attr="class","giada i”]ah.

good, he's no longer with them. her body visibly relaxes at the thought. a sense of safety slowly eases its way back into her bones. they can't hurt her here - not with him, anyway.

"that's nice of you."

he is too late. he could not have saved her from this fate.

her eye - well, where it used to be - throbs beneath memories filtering their way back in. she has tried, and failed, to block them out.

"THEO BECKETT caught me as i was leaving."

white sheets crumple beneath balled fists, knuckles pale.

"the price for freedom was a knife to the eye."

her following chuckle sounds hollow.

"imagine that, huh?"

Isaac Merlo

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played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

949 height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,329 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2023 4:50:19 GMT

Cillian Quinn likes this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]Isaac cocked an eyebrow at the mention. Not a lot of defectors survived a tangle with an Underboss. Now two had, one after the other. They must have been on the warpath. If two grunts could slip out, despite the efforts of Rocket's strongest, what was stopping any other doubters from following their example?[break][break]

Good. Let them try. May Rocket remember their faces with each one that got away.[break][break]

"Cillian Quinn was mine. His price was my life." For a brief moment, the joy vanished from Isaac's eye. Even with the peace he'd found in their decision, what had been sacrificed was still agony. "I'm lucky to even be here. Many of my Pokemon weren't so lucky."[break][break]

"Part of me wishes they were the ones to make it out. Instead, I just gotta live my best life for them."[break][break]

The prize for his freedom had been the price for hers. It was a bitter irony, but one a year in the making. His first doubts came when Ashley Shepard had knifed his eye out. Now, with his final resolve steeled, a new eye came to take its place. Would Gia be so lucky? That would be between her and the universe.[break][break]

"Does it hurt?"

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — giada morgan [break]
NOTES — notes go here

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played by

nikki

gia, gigi

she/her

november 12th

celadon city, kanto

bisexual

ex-thief

???

5'6" height

when the lights go out and i'm all alone again.

awards

707 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @giada

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2023 4:56:53 GMT

[attr="class","giada"]
[attr="class","giada b"]
[attr="class","giada i”]"maybe they're gettin' soft, then."

she can still see THEO BECKETT's disappointment - everywhere, splashed across every wall and window and burned into her eyelid whenever she closes her remaining eye. it leaves her bitter, resentful, blind.

"well, in any case, i'm glad you got out okay."

he's better for it. they're better for it, despite the bloody trail left behind.

"yeah."

a beat passes. she tries to smile. it falters. morphine has not begun its drip yet.

"it does, but it's better than being in a body bag so i guess i can't complain much."

she had been stupid, after all, to believe freedom's price would not come for her. she had been warned and she had not listened.

Isaac Merlo

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played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

949 height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,329 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2023 13:19:29 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]There was nothing soft about what had happened to them, but why rain on Gia's parade by pointing that out?[break][break]

"Yeah. The old fucks are losing their touch." They had since Meteno, abandoning beating the League at its own game to rip their mask off at the edge of the apocalypse. Were it not for all these cross-dimensional proxy wars, Isaac was sure retribution for Meteno would've come fast and furious. "And then they wonder why we keep leaving."[break][break]

It was better to be feared than loved, some said, missing that the best option of all was to have both. When there was neither, all they'd find were enemies born from scorned friends and rejuvenated foes. In spite of that all, Rocket still believed they were invincible, their grip on their adherents ironclad.[break][break]

What Isaac wouldn't give to prove them wrong.[break][break]

"I'm glad you did, too." He remembered their resolves, wavering at the same time. He'd wished he'd confessed everything sooner. Maybe then, she'd be spared this pain she tried - failed - to smile past.[break][break]

"This is going to sound crazy." Because that phrase always did such a good job of calming people down. "But can you lift the gauze? I have an idea, and I don't want to get it messed up."

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — giada morgan [break]
NOTES — notes go here

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played by

nikki

gia, gigi

she/her

november 12th

celadon city, kanto

bisexual

ex-thief

???

5'6" height

when the lights go out and i'm all alone again.

awards

707 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @giada

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2023 20:52:32 GMT

[attr="class","giada"]
[attr="class","giada b"]
[attr="class","giada i”]the resulting smile is slightly easier this time. it feels less like lying and more akin to relief.

"yeah, me too."

and it fades quickly, that fleeting sensation of repose.

"um, are you sure?"

she grimaces.

"it's kinda... nasty looking."

the empty socket is still bloody and raw, unable to mend itself as quickly as she'd like. it oozes slowly through the stages, sure, but she can't even bring herself to look at it in the mirror so how could he stomach it?

still, she relents and gently unpeels the taped gauze to place her receipt for freedom on full display.

Isaac Merlo

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played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

949 height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,329 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2023 22:37:23 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]"Not a lot gets to me these days." It was a blessing and a curse. Isaac could never take back everything he'd seen, everything he'd experienced, everything he'd done. Leaving the Rocket life behind was only half of the equation. The next step would be coming to terms with it all.[break][break]

He didn't flinch at the sight, but a sympathetic warmth spread across his features. He'd seen his own sliced-out eye time and time again, but that didn't make it any easier to see the same pain etched into another's face. Each layer of her face was in another stage of healing or hurting, a geological cross section of the human experience.[break][break]

Isaac closed his eyes, but not out of disgust. Instead, it was so he could focus.[break][break]

With a soft breath, Isaac began running his fingers through the air in rhythmic patterns. At first, it probably looked insane. When the mist started to trail in the wake of his fingers, it started to look like a mystery instead. Once the mists held into an orb-like shape, slowly coalescing into a shimmering sphere of water, it would instead look like the impossible becoming possible.[break][break]

"I can't promise a lot. But this is gonna take some of the pain away." What he wouldn't give to run this along Gia's wound and see a new eye where it passed, but this was impossible. His powers could heal pain and spur the body's natural healing, but even full treatment of the socket would take hours. The most he could do was bring comfort. "Here, sit still. It might tickle a little . . ."[break][break]

Isaac approached Gia's bedside, the shimmering waters trailing behind him all the while. When he arrived, he held his hand out, guiding the ball to hover towards the wound. Slowly, surely, with the utmost caution, he brought the ball down against the wound. As he squeezed his eyes shut and continued to focus, it would continue to shimmer, brighter and brighter by the moment.[break][break]

He'd remain there for as long as he could sustain the orb. It was as if he'd hoped, were he to try long enough, he'd pull off a miracle.

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — giada morgan [break]
NOTES — notes go here

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played by

nikki

gia, gigi

she/her

november 12th

celadon city, kanto

bisexual

ex-thief

???

5'6" height

when the lights go out and i'm all alone again.

awards

707 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @giada

POSTED ON Oct 25, 2023 2:51:34 GMT

[attr="class","giada"]
[attr="class","giada b"]
[attr="class","giada i”]she nods gently yet doesn't quite speak for he seems focused.

and a moment later, she understands exactly why.

a ball of mist quickly forms into water and he inches closer to press it toward her wound. at first, she flinches as her body wants to reel away from the unknown...

once soft relief begins to seep into her skin, however, she relaxes out of fear.

it does tickle, she notes with a stifled giggle, though it's not entirely uncomfortable either.

after what feels like too long, she slowly blinks open her remaining eye and begins to pull away from the water sphere.

"it... feels better, i think?"

as well as an empty socket of flesh could, at the very least. a small smile manages to find a slight beginning on her lips.

"is that a new trick of yours?"

Isaac Merlo

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played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

949 height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,329 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Oct 25, 2023 13:13:53 GMT

Cillian Quinn and John Sullivan like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]A soft smile spread across Isaac's face at Gia's reaction to his handiwork. He may not have been a healer of John Sullivan's caliber, but between the soothing mists and the calming blue aurora that surrounded him he had a few tricks of his own.[break][break]

"I should've been dead," he admitted. He stated it so plainly, so matter of fact, but the sorrow in his smile betrayed how he truly felt. "Instead, I ended up with a few new cards up my sleeve. Bet Cillian Quinn's gonna flip when he finds out." It was classic, poetic even. In a final act of cruelty, he'd created the thorn in his side.[break][break]

But today wasn't about yesterday back there. Today was a brand new day, over here.[break][break]

Isaac's next trick was less that of a wizard and more that of a magician. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a neatly folded eyepatch. Even after his own healing, he kept it on his person. Was it a reminder of where he started and how far he'd come? Or was it insurance, as if he was afraid Doug's gift would vanish at any moment?[break][break]

It didn't matter. It was being wasted like this.[break][break]

"Here," he said, offering it Gia's way. "Think this'll be a lot more your style than a bunch of old bandages."

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — giada morgan [break]
NOTES — notes go here

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played by

nikki

gia, gigi

she/her

november 12th

celadon city, kanto

bisexual

ex-thief

???

5'6" height

when the lights go out and i'm all alone again.

awards

707 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @giada

POSTED ON Oct 31, 2023 5:38:49 GMT

[attr="class","giada"]
[attr="class","giada b"]
[attr="class","giada i”]a little laugh escapes at the thought.

"yeah, he'll definitely flip - any way i can convince you to get photo evidence of said flip, too?"

she doesn't know the underboss well, but something about the higher ups being shocked at this revelation brings a sense of amusement she can't ignore.

and then, the amusement is gone... replaced by a surge of emotions and fondness she hadn't quite noticed until now. her eye stares down at the cloth in his hand, outstretched and waiting for her. she plucks it up gingerly, running fingerpads over soft fabric.

"i - thank you."

it's a kindness she has not been shown before, one too foreign for her to know exactly how to respond.

"did you bring this just because?"

Isaac Merlo

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played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

949 height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,329 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Oct 31, 2023 13:34:21 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]Imagining the look on his face almost made the sure death that would follow worth it. "I'll see what I can do," he said, his own eyes twinkling with laughter.[break][break]

In truth, the idea of facing Cillian Quinn again terrified him. Not even the calm his avatarship with Suicune brought him changed that. Imagining him as some sputtering blowhard, shocked and enraged that he and Gia made it out alive at least made him seem less big. It was a nice fantasy, powerful even.[break][break]

He dared not ruin it with cold, hard reality.[break][break]

The laughter left the room, replaced only with a surge of tender warmth. At her gratitude, he only offered a gentle smile. "There was a time when mine was hurt real bad, too," he admitted. "Patch like that gave it time to heal up. So I've been keeping one on me, just in case."[break][break]

"'Sides, I bet you'd rock the look way better than me." With a teasing edge to his smile, Isaac let a bit of humor back into the room. Poor Gia had been through the heaviest ideal of her life. Now was the time to laugh, freely and openly, because she was finally free.[break][break]

He hoped she'd take the chance. It was one he'd never offer himself.

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — giada morgan [break]
NOTES — notes go here

close tab

played by

nikki

gia, gigi

she/her

november 12th

celadon city, kanto

bisexual

ex-thief

???

5'6" height

when the lights go out and i'm all alone again.

awards

707 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @giada

POSTED ON Nov 2, 2023 4:25:50 GMT

[attr="class","giada"]
[attr="class","giada b"]
[attr="class","giada i”]"i'll hold you to that, then."

a small smile follows. she has that freedom now, doesn't she?

she can, realistically, do anything now... it's as freeing as it is terrifying.

"i'm glad yours healed - makes me feel better about my own, kinda."

this, too, will heal kind of mentality. she's survived worse (maybe?) and eventually, she'll be able to laugh this off too. although... his is fully repaired and hers is a hollow reminder of the price paid. will it feel freeing when she looks in the mirror after they release her from this hospital bed? or will the socket be filled with resentment in the end?

"i would rock an eye patch, wouldn't i?"

the resulting laugh is light, amused.

"when they release me, i'll have to send you a picture of the eye patch in action."

Isaac Merlo

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

949 height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,329 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo