MARCH UPDATE

POSTED ON Nov 3, 2023 22:42:19 GMT

“Where’s Zev Harcourt?”

“Grigori, hey, what’s up? How’s–”

“Where. Is. Zev. Harcourt?”

“Woah there, calm down! Man, you're grip is super strong– GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! OW OW OW, LET GO!”

“Answer my question.”

“Ah, fuck, uh– training! He’s there, in the fucking-GAAAAA–in the fucking excersize facility, or something! Fuck, Arceus above, what the fuck are you on?!”

“...Apologies,” Grigori lets the man go, pats him on the shoulder, and briskly disengages. “I have important business.”

june sleigh ’s description was as flighty and unhelpful as a Quagsire, but the bar for success sat between six to twelve feet below the earth. After all, how many others are disguised in heavy combat gear? Specialized in single-target attacks? Killed things with crystals that could be conjured from the body? Hell, he’d seen the man do it on their mission together. The grunt always thought him brutally effective, if cold.

Grigori’s heart beat in rhythm with his furious stomps into the submarine floor. Red painted the walls, the plants, the doors to the training facility. He could not attack Zev; that would result in his death. He pushed down the intrusive thoughts and tried to think up anything else. Like what the hell he was going to tell Zev.

One part of him tempted ‘how do you sleep at night?’, but that got tossed into the mental trash can immediately. Probably in this room, whatever it was. He didn't bother to check the name, mind too honed in on his task. When was the last time he acted this reckless and pissed off? At least a few years. Wild how things changed, yet managed to remain the same.

Finally, the man was in view. Grigori closed the distance fast, a thunderbolt straight for the beast. “Harcourt. I’ve been looking for you. We need to talk. Now.”

He did not wait for a proper response. His blood boiled, but he kept his hands shoved into the crevice between his arm and body. “How was your time on that island? Do anything important? Perhaps assault a delivery girl trying to make ends meet?”

Zev Harcourt

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TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Nov 5, 2023 22:27:05 GMT

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While the occasional grunt or associate looked for Zev while he was in the middle of lifting weights, their visits were usually brief, intending only to pass on messages. Grigori's arrival was nothing of the sort. His agitated demeanor and instantaneous interrogation spoke volumes as to the sort of encounter this might end up being.[break][break]

Suppressing a sigh, Zev racked the pair of dumbbells he'd been using and picked up his water bottle.[break][break]

"Who is the girl to you?" he asked with all his usual aloofness, before taking a sip of water. There was no use denying he assaulted people or feigning ignorance.[break][break]

Of course, he didn't know which person Grigori meant. Zev had attacked plenty of League messengers on the new island on Route 105, injuring as many as he'd killed. If Grigori had learned about it, then this girl was one of the lucky ones.

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Grigori Sokolov[break]
NOTES – social

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POSTED ON Nov 6, 2023 17:50:43 GMT

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“Not. Relevant.” Grigori shot back. “But since you don’t recall, let me help you jog your memory.”

“Was it necessary to murder her fucking Manectric right in front of her?” His vision flashed red-hot. Dangerously so. Even the mere mention of it got his fists balled tighter and tighter, pressed against his body. Pressure bubbled, boiled, stirred underneath the surface, moments away from splashing out of the pot.

Grigori suddenly inhaled sharply, and he closed his eyes. After a few moments, he let the air escape out in a steady stream. Breathe in, breathe out. Do not assault a man of his position. This one was at that meeting in the cave. Too important to act irrationally with.

“Look,” he finally spoke after several deep breaths, “All you need to know about this girl is that she was only there on the island to make extra money. She doesn’t give two shits for the League. She functioned as a glorified delivery girl. And you go and not only pull a stunt like that, but you didn't even get the parcel she had."

Grigori reopened his eyes and stared down at Zev with an intense glare. "So why even attack her in the first place?"

Zev Harcourt

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The Devourer

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January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

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POSTED ON Nov 6, 2023 22:10:55 GMT

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[attr="class","zev3"]

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"Oh, that girl."[break][break]

Zev remembered. She wore a League uniform and was riding her Manectric when he and his Type: Null happened upon her in the fog. She carried some sort of parcel, but he deemed it—and her life—worthless enough that he let her go when she'd fled.[break][break]

The mist had been too thick. He'd have wasted precious time hunting her down, and for what?[break][break]

Grigori's emotional display surprised Zev, though. He was certain the girl meant something to the grunt; there was no other reason to bring her up, and no other reason to deny a connection so vehemently.[break][break]

Zev leveled his cold and unsympathetic gaze at Grigori, the lines of his face hard like steel.[break][break]

"What do you want me to say? 'I'm sorry'? 'I didn't realize how much she meant to you'?" He scoffed. "Why do you think I give a shit about the safety of some delivery girl? She willingly put herself in harm's way. That was her choice."

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Grigori Sokolov[break]
NOTES – social

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TAG WITH @grigorisokolov

POSTED ON Nov 8, 2023 18:53:14 GMT

“You didn’t answer my question,” Grigori said. Did he intentionally avoid it, or did Zev want to dive right into the heart of the issue? The one Grigori himself knew could not be solved with a livid confrontation

Rationality wrestled with the rage for dominance. For reasoning. What did he want from Zev? An apology that meant nothing? A heartfelt confession of his sins and some underlying issue he could relate to? Best to calm down, apologize for the harsh words, and hope to Arceus he didn’t think of this as more than a rash decision.

But those eyes… The grunt dug his fingertips into his palms until they ached. Oh, how he wanted to shove his thumbs into those sockets and grind them to a mush, so he never saw these pupils again. If Zev’s face did not express his true emotions, those empty eyes did the job perfectly. And that drove him up the wall.

Zev’s black hair gained a tint of crimson. “Her choice didn’t take into account you playing badass. And I don’t care if you don’t care. I care. And what I want from you is…”

One second. Two. Three. Fury gummed up the cogs within his brain. Zev sat there, waiting. Arceus, he probably thought Grigori the dumbest grunt alive. Bastard. If this was the last time he ever had to deal with the beast, all the better--

Crreeeaaaaak!

“...is that this situation doesn’t come up ever again. Don’t fuck with my friend ever again. Got it?”

Zev Harcourt

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The Devourer

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January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

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hitman

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Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

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TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Nov 8, 2023 23:29:03 GMT

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There it was. The girl was Grigori's friend.[break][break]

And so the irrational weakness of humanity laid itself bare in front of Zev once more: the empathy and kinship people felt for each other. The emotions that made them vulnerable and soft.[break][break]

How pathetic. What weight did Grigori's threats have when he was the one standing so precariously upon the knife's edge?[break][break]

Zev sighed, more exasperated than insulted. "You must live in a world of delusion if you think I have to answer your questions or make promises to the likes of you," he said, his words swollen with arrogance, even if his tone remained detached.[break][break]

"Get your head out of the sand, Sokolov. I've read your file; I know what you're capable of. Don't storm up to me bleeding out of your damned heart for a girl caught in the crossfire of war. What do you expect to be, her savior?"[break][break]

A rhetorical question, of course.

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Grigori Sokolov[break]
NOTES – social

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POSTED ON Nov 10, 2023 4:59:54 GMT

Rhetorical for one of them.

“‘Her Savior’? If I wanted to be her savior, I certainly wouldn’t be standing in front of you right now,” Grigori said. This must’ve been a joke or sarcasm; otherwise, Zev was in fact insane. It would explain his failure in the field. But perhaps the failure was a good thing– this could’ve been an extremely different conversation.

“But what do you suggest I do then?” Grigori asked. His voice diametrically opposed Zev’s. This man was heartless to a fault. Perhaps this was not a human he conversed with, but a machine. An extremely punchable one. He pivoted around, his back faced towards the man. If he stared any longer, he'd be tempted to test that theory out.

“You’ve read my file, you know I solve problems. How the fuck do you recommend I solve this one, Harcourt? Since apparently I’m not in the right headspace to do it myself,” he pressed on. If his superior did not want to answer anything about his own performance, then maybe he’d respond to queries regarding Grigori's. Arceus above, if this was still in the ‘world of delusion’...

Was it delusional to want to protect those you care about?

Zev Harcourt

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The Devourer

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January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

hitman

rocket beast

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

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part of

TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Nov 10, 2023 18:53:19 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","zev3"]

[attr="class","body"]

Zev's answer was immediate.[break][break]

"Cut emotional ties with her. Keep seeing her and talking to her if it helps the façade, but use her for what she is: a tool."[break][break]

He knew the advice was not one that most grunts wanted to hear, but he didn't care. A veteran grunt like Grigori should have been familiar with the mindset, having observed it among the higher ranks.[break][break]

It did make Zev wonder how Grigori had operated so effectively before with such a weak heart. But it didn't matter, in the end.[break][break]

He took another sip from his water bottle. "If she ever makes deliveries for the League government, then she might have access to interesting intel or goods. The chance isn't high, but it's still possible."

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Grigori Sokolov[break]
NOTES – social

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forty-eight

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TAG WITH @grigorisokolov

POSTED ON Nov 11, 2023 17:41:14 GMT

“Not. Happening,” Grigori pushed through his teeth. Unfortunately, this response was visible from a mile away. Comically so. But Grigori wasn’t laughing, Zev wasn’t laughing, and the situation only served to get his arms to shake in place. The nerve of this man.

“I will not use J–her, as some tool. Not now. Not ever.”

After all he’s done to her? After all he’s put her through? The thought of it made his stomach churl. His mistake would not be compounded like this, built atop until it crushed her in every sense of the word. Or, even if he could not do such a simple thing as make things right, he sure as hell would keep them from getting worse.

Saviors didn’t ruin people's lives.

“And I assume that’s all you have regarding advice, Harcourt,” Grigori turned to glare at him from the side of one eye. “Unless you have some other ideas rattling around up there.”

Zev Harcourt

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The Devourer

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January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

hitman

rocket beast

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

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TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Nov 11, 2023 21:03:39 GMT

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[attr="class","zev3"]

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Zev sighed this time and returned Grigori's glare with a scowl of his own. "Then you've wasted both our time. Get out of my sight, and don't come crying to me about pointless things ever again."[break][break]

He turned back to the rack of dumbbells, intending to resume his exercise as if he hadn't been interrupted. As soon as Grigori left, however, Zev took out his phone and sent a text to Cillian Quinn.[break][break]

The underboss surely wanted to know about grunts with the potential need for re-education. And Cillian had a particularly nasty method for putting such individuals in their place.

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Grigori Sokolov[break]
NOTES – social

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