MARCH UPDATE

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 1, 2023 22:07:43 GMT

Zev Harcourt likes this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

The ring of the doorbell startled Jack. Setting down the video game controller, he headed to the door as Watts barked wildly out the window at his nemesis, the mail carrier. The box sitting on the rug outside his apartment door was not the stock of pokeballs that he had ordered but the first Day of Remembrance gift that he had sent Zev Harcourt, unopened with a large UNDELIVERABLE sticker now adhered to it. Bringing the package inside, he checked his phone but Zev had not responded to any of the text messages he had sent over the weekend. Jack shrugged and went back to his video game, giving his friend some grace for not responding after how warmly the man had welcomed Jack back from his extended silence in Galar.[break][break]

The following day, when his second Day of Remembrance gift was also returned as undeliverable Jack decided to send a text just to make sure everything was okay.[break][break]

The next day when the postal service returned the third gift, Jack became concerned enough to pick up the phone. There was no answer on Zev's cell so Jack called the bar, though a prerecorded message informed him that Howling at the Moon's number was no longer in service.[break][break]

Jack immediately pulled on a woolen overcoat and headed out into the chilly mid-morning air. Upon arrival in Slateport, his first stop was the bar, which he found closed and seemingly no longer occupied. Puzzled, he pulled out his phone in search of Howling's social media pages to try to figure out what was going on.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Canon Connections[break]
✦ Advent Calendar Day 1: Pokeball[break]

BY GUNSMILE

[googlefont=Montserrat]
[newclass=.jackpost]--accent:#00ffff;[/newclass]
[newclass=.jackpost]font:12px Roboto;letter-spacing:.25px;line-height:15px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost b"]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost a"]color:var(--accent);font:12px Roboto;[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost i"]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost u"]text-underline-offset:3px;text-decoration-color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost h1"]font:800 18px Montserrat;color:var(--accent);letter-spacing:.5px[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost h2"]font:800 16px Montserrat;color:var(--accent);letter-spacing:.5px[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost .text b"]font:bold 12px Montserrat;letter-spacing:.1px;line-height:15px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost .ooc b"]font-size:12px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".jackpost .pkmn img"]margin:-10px -7px 0px -7px;[/newclass]

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

Short King height

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

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Dec 2, 2023 2:26:39 GMT

Zev Harcourt likes this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]"You son of a bitch. Finally went and did it, didn't you?"[break][break]

The Howling at the Moon had, at one time, been Zev Harcourt's lifeline. It had been more than just some asset for Rocket, one of their thousands of sources of funding and hundreds of shady meeting halls. It had been his lifeline, a tether to a world of normalcy that he'd always deemed beneath him. So long as he had the Howling, putting up that front of normalcy had never been easier.[break][break]

Now it had been thrown aside, as if it was nothing.[break][break]

It wasn't the only asset to suffer such a fate. He'd left the Flying Sword School behind, every bit as abruptly. The Howling was one thing. It was a burden tying Zev down, and a potential link that could cause him harm. But combat lessons? Zev's body was a temple dedicated to the gods of war. He would stop at nothing to fashion himself into the most dangerous man alive. That he would leave before even sniffing mastery in the art . . .[break][break]

He'd have to ask Finnegan Yang about it soon. For now, something smelled rotten, and he wasn't going to let the trail drop. After Zev's absences stretched into inexplicable territory, the Howling had been the second place he'd checked. If it was still running like clockwork, he'd have cause for suspicion.[break][break]

When he saw it had closed, he had cause for alarm, instead.[break][break]

In a perfect world, he'd be alone with the shuttered facade. He'd throw sticks and stones and swears and screams, cursing Zev for ever tricking the world into thinking there was something more to him. He may have left the Howling before its closure, but it was still a place of significance to him, to its employees, to so many of Slateport's residents. How dare Zev simply end its life with the snap of a finger?[break][break]

Yet he wasn't alone. Another had come, standing in front of the door as if he was waiting for something. Shit. Isaac felt kinda bad for the guy. With a sigh, he stepped out from the alley he'd hidden himself within. "Sorry, buddy," he said, an undercurrent of bitterness festering beneath his natural charm. "Happy hour's cancelled."

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — jack wainwright [break]
NOTES — notes go here

[newclass=".isaac2"] --color:#c4c067; [/newclass]
[newclass=".isaac2"] margin: 0px auto; background-color: #111; min-height: 500px; width: 450px; margin: 0px auto; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom:20px; } .isaac2 .textbox a, .isaac2 .textbox i { color:var(--color); } .isaac2 .textbox b { font:bold 13px/10px 'Poppins'; color:var(--color); } .topimage { background-image: url(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1058305315642286080/1155427871351906335/image.png); height: 250px; width: 400px; background-size: cover; background-position:50% 20%; margin: 0px auto; } .isaac2 .textbox { line-height: 15px; letter-spacing: .5px; font-size: 12px; font-family: roboto; color: #d6d6d6; margin: 20px auto 0px; text-align: justify; padding-bottom: 20px; background:#1E1E1E; padding:30px 50px; background-image: url(https://image.ibb.co/cpf8Wc/flower_patt.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: bottom; } .isaac2 .oocbox { border-top: 3px solid #333; padding-top: 10px; width: 260px; margin: 20px auto 0px; text-align:left; [/newclass]

close tab

played by

skyline

jack

he/him

twenty-six

august 12

Hulbury

travel blogger

elite ranger

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 2, 2023 15:11:34 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

Scrolling through each social media, checking and rechecking his spelling, Jack's worry and his annoyance grew. It had all been deleted, just gone with no explanation. High chest tightened in frustration and he had to remind himself again of his own disappearing act to Galar. Still, he hadn't deleted everything before he left; this was starting to look intentional. He tried another futile search, taking a calming breath as someone else approached. Jack's finger froze on the phone, his body tense until the other man spoke.[break][break]

"It's a little early for happy hour anyway," Jack replied, keeping his tone polite but unable to force himself to smile.[break][break]

"Any idea what happened with the bar? Lots of good memories here but all the social media is gone and there's no note," Jack probed, flashing his phone with the 'no search results found' error from his latest search for Howling toward the man. Hopefully this was a local with some information on what happened with Zev, or even better, a regular who knew the man.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Canon Connections[break]

BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

Short King height

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

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Dec 4, 2023 0:12:44 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]"With all the shit this region's been through? Never too early."[break][break]

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow is the day we die. Hoenn stopped the meteor, but how much did that really change? They wiped the big, obvious doomsday clock off the board. Now there were dozens of invisible ones taking their place, all feeding into one another like a hydra's ouroboros. The Triad. The League and Rocket's war. SEA Hoenn. Megalopalans. The energies that infested this region like a festering cancer.[break][break]

Most of all, the one that brought he and Jack here; the moment Zev Harcourt decided to stop caring and burn the world.[break][break]

Isaac never thought he'd actually do it. Indiscriminate murder was never his style. But Isaac never thought he'd pull out of Flying Sword or shutter the Howling without a trace, either. Something had changed, and for the first time in his life he was as in the dark as everyone else. Whatever special bond he had was severed. Whatever private knowledge he was privy to was irrelevant.[break][break]

Zev was done with him, just like he was with any tool that had outlived its usefulness. What happened when the whole Hoenn region fell under that umbrella?[break][break]

"Owner of the place just got fed up, I guess," Isaac said, shrugging his shoulders. Even now, he felt that protective urge, that refusal to just spell Zev's secrets to the world. It was a taboo he refused to break, both for the people in Rocket he feared would become collateral and for the man that he begrudgingly owed so much to. "Didn't even sell the joint. If it's not his, I guess it's not worth keeping around."[break][break]

As if Zev would ever let anyone play with his toys.[break][break]

"I used to work the place before it closed down. If you remember some blonde, one-eyed twunk killing it on bartender duty, that was me." He realized how insane the statement sounded, as a robust brunette with no eyepatch in sight, but if Jack was a regular perhaps he'd place the facial and style similarities. "Name's Isaac. Good to meet ya."

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — jack wainwright [break]
NOTES — notes go here

close tab

played by

skyline

jack

he/him

twenty-six

august 12

Hulbury

travel blogger

elite ranger

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 5, 2023 1:40:40 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

The other guy was right, it wasn't too early for a drink the way things were going. It was a wonder that most Hoennians weren't functioning alcoholics. Jack's fingers twitched and he resisted the urge to light up, instead pushing down the dark thoughts that threatened to surface. Still, memories of several horrors jockeyed for position in his mind's eye until he refocused himself on the man in front of him.[break][break]

"Some one-eyed twunk, huh?" Jack cracked a smile in spite of everything else. He realized that Isaac did look familiar, though Jack had been keeping his eyes and his hands to himself after he and Aurelie had started dating. He nodded, adding "Nice to meet ya proper-like, Isaac. The name's Jack."[break][break]

"Hard to imagine Zev getting fed up with this place, he always struck me as proud of it. He even did an interview for it back when I first met him," Jack said skeptically. Teetering back and forth on how much to say, Jack figured it wouldn't hurt to share his thoughts with Isaac. Since he had been an employee of Zev's, he'd probably share Jack's concerns. Zev had always been so responsible, so put together; he deserved friends that worried for him, even if it was just a starry-eyed writer and a former one-eyed twunk. "I'm worried something happened to him. I haven't been able to reach him on the phone and some Remembrance Day gifts I mailed him ended up getting returned by the postal service. This really isn't like him."[break][break]

"Heard anything from him?" Jack asked. "If he's in trouble, I want to help."

[attr="class","ooc"]

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Canon Connections[break]

BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

Short King height

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

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Dec 5, 2023 3:09:02 GMT

Zev Harcourt likes this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]It truly was good to meet Jack. Such a shame it was in a moment like this.[break][break]

"Zev's real good at that," Isaac said, a rueful tone creeping into his voice. "All smiles 'til the chips are down, and then he's cutthroat as they come." He wanted to spill the truth. He wanted to tear the mask off the monster and enjoy that final victory. But how could he? How could he shatter this man's hopes? How could he backstab Zev Harcourt like that and sink to his level?[break][break]

"You know. Small business owners."[break][break]

Apparently, Jack thought he was close enough for Remembrance Day gifts. Isaac wondered how many others made that same mistake, only to find their thoughts and prayers lost to the void. Isaac had taken the ones he would've given and burned them instead. It was a far more fitting end.[break][break]

At the mention of it not seeming like Zev, Isaac simply shrugged. "Not everyone's what they seem," he said, content to leave the matter at that. It would've been so easy to walk off with that last little warning. However, the forbidden fruit of curiosity had taken root in his mind. Jack wanted to see if Zev was okay. Isaac wanted to see just how low he'd stoop.[break][break]

"But if you wanna see for yourself, I know where we can go."

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — jack wainwright [break]
NOTES — notes go here

close tab

played by

skyline

jack

he/him

twenty-six

august 12

Hulbury

travel blogger

elite ranger

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 7, 2023 2:45:15 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

The oddness of the conversation had Jack's mind buzzing: his missing friend, the mystery of Howling's abrupt shuttering, this back and forth with a man he had probably shared space with dozens of times but hadn't met until now. He felt overwhelmed and slow trying to process it all while annoyance and worry battled for dominance in his gut.[break][break]

Jack cocked his head to the side curiously as Isaac described Zev at cutthroat. Sure, the man could be imperious and maybe intimidating at times but some people were just like that. It must be tough on Isaac having a place of employment shut down suddenly and without explanation. Jack offered the man a sympathetic smile as he mentally ran through a list of his contacts who might be able to offer Isaac a permanent position or at least some temporary work.[break][break]

"Sometimes people surprise you," Jack replied to Isaac's wisdom that not everyone is what they seem. There was a lot of evil in the world but Jack firmly believed that so many people would show you the good they had inside them if given the opportunity.[break][break]

"Yeah, I'd love to see for myself. Lead on, mate," Jack said, once again feeling lost in the strangeness of the day.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Canon Connections[break]

BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

Short King height

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

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Dec 8, 2023 23:24:54 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]Luckily, finding Zev Harcourt wasn't nearly as hard as some might have thought. The man generally preferred to keep his affairs close, maximizing the control he had over them at any given time. His apartment was but a brief walk away from the Howling. If he was there, Jack and Isaac would know it in moments.[break][break]

Yet Isaac already knew the answer. If Zev sold the Howling, what use did he have for Slateport?[break][break]

He wished he could have feigned surprise when he saw the apartment's curtains drawn and lights dimmed. Instead, he simply sighed. "Well. There's the former Harcourt House," he said, swinging his backpack off his shoulders. If those signs weren't enough of a tipoff, the Vacancy sign hanging off of the window spoke volumes. Isaac shook his head at the sight as he slipped gloves onto his hands. "Well, that's that. Guess he's just gone. Nothing we can do about it."[break][break]

Yeah. Right.[break][break]

Isaac turned to walk away. However, after building up some distance, he did a sudden about face. He stepped once, twice, three times, then lunged forward as if going for a new long jump record. He must have looked insane. Did he think diving into the door would pop it open? However, there was a method to his madness, and it was written in the winds that seemed to swirl around him.[break][break]

Just before making impact, the winds took Isaac's body. There was no tell-tale smack of his body crashing into the door. There was only a shadow, growing fainter and fainter in the winds' cradle until soon it was gone. The northern wind snaked through the keyhole of the door, and then Jack was alone.[break][break]

Barely a minute later, the door swung open. Isaac, whole once more, reclined against the doorframe. How the hell had he gotten in there? And how was he lounging so casually, as if it was the most normal thing he'd ever done? "You coming?"

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — jack wainwright [break]
NOTES — notes go here

close tab

played by

skyline

jack

he/him

twenty-six

august 12

Hulbury

travel blogger

elite ranger

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 9, 2023 3:04:54 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

As they approached Zev's apartment, passing doors and windows hung with Wintertide garland, Jack felt his hope and anticipation growing. Hope and anticipation that were abruptly crushed when they found the apartment in question dark and vacant. A surge of grief overcame him as he stood outside the shuttered apartment, suddenly feeling like a hole in the shape of his close friend had opened up in his life. The way Isaac marched off, Jack figured the man must be feeling similarly confused and upset.[break][break]

Just as Jack was about to call after the man and offer to take him out for that happy hour beer, Isaac abruptly turned. The man dashed forward in some hare-brained attempt to knock down the door and Jack stepped back with his eyes closed, wincing against the inevitable sound of impact that never came. Instead, he opened his eyes and found himself alone.[break][break]

Is this a fucking fever dream or what?[break][break]

He shifted his weight back and forth between his feet as he looked around, his mouth open in shock. Just before he could take a step to leave, the door swung open.[break][break]

"Thanks for getting the door, mate," Jack responded politely to Isaac's casual invitation, finding himself unnerved by the man standing there as if he hadn't just teleported through a door on his own. He stepped past him and into the apartment, his eyes already scanning the room while carefully avoiding catching Isaac's gaze. He knew Zev was gone, but maybe something here would give him the closure he desperately desired for the loss of their friendship.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Canon Connections[break]
✦ Advent Calendar: Garland[break]

BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

Short King height

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

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Dec 10, 2023 0:28:55 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]With a little hand motion, Isaac ushered Jack in to the greatest show on earth; Literally Fucking Nothing. The barren Howling seemed positively packed compared to Zev Harcourt's old apartment. Sure, the man was always a subscriber to the Marie Kondo school of organized living, but this took things to brand new heights.[break][break]

That chair he'd always sat in, Luna's head cupped in one hand and essential Rocket documents laced between the fingers of his other, was gone. There was barely even a spot on the floor from where the chair once sat. He could see Zev there as clear as day, answering him with a curt nod as Luna perked up in his presence, but with the blink of an eye only shadows remained.[break][break]

"Not even a speck of dust left behind." The bookshelves, which it just occurred to Isaac looked like they'd never been touched, were now completely bare. The decorations that had become more common around the apartment after Neffatari Nzingha came into his life were unceremoniously taken back down. "Gotta give the guy credit. He's thorough."[break][break]

Thoroughly out of their lives, that is.[break][break]

Even the kitchen, where Isaac had gotten his first taste of the finer food in life. Compared to whatever he could scrounge together during his five years as a runaway, Zev's cooking was legitimately gourmet. Only Ashley Shepard had as massive of an impact on his palate. Despite that, no caramelized grilled cheeses and homemade soups wafted out from the kitchen. Not even a crumb remained in his pantry.[break][break]

"This must've been coming for a while. Not even he could've done this clean of a job on a whim." This home was just another mask, and Zev always removed his with expert precision. For all his values, the guy tended to react poorly when thrown off balance. This wasn't the move of someone who needed to. This was the move of someone who wanted to.[break][break]

Just how long had he been planning this?[break][break]

"You ever been here before?" Nonetheless, Isaac combed the place for any sign of Zev. He did his best to disturb as few of the apartment's insides as possible, and if he really needed to his gloves would keep his fingerprints out of it. Despite that, he wasn't having any luck. There wasn't even a contact number stuck to the fridge. "Be a shame if this was your first look at the place."

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — jack wainwright [break]
NOTES — notes go here

close tab

played by

skyline

jack

he/him

twenty-six

august 12

Hulbury

travel blogger

elite ranger

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 10, 2023 2:45:02 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

A wave of nausea swept over Jack as he took in the barren apartment. Isaac was right, the place was too clean for it to have been rushed. Zev hadn't gotten lost or run off on some emergency. He had meticulously removed his belongings and then cleaned the place so well it felt sanitized.[break][break]

"Nah, never been here. Sounds like you have though," Jack said, a strange quiver in his voice as he felt a tear pooling in the corner of his eye. Had Isaac intended his comment as a barb, or was he just speaking with the same sense of hurt Jack was now feeling? He turned around under the pretense of examining a bookshelf will he surreptitiously wiped away the wetness from his eyes with his back to Isaac.[break][break]

He had always assumed that Zev was just a private sort of guy, not the type to invite someone into his personal living space. Zev never really revealed much about himself, seemingly happy to listen as Jack filled the space between, with Zev saying the right thing at the right time. Plus the bar had been such a great hang-out spot if they weren't out and about doing other things. Plus friendships between men were like that sometimes, weren't they?[break][break]

Why am I trying to rationalize this?[break][break]

Jack faked a cough in an attempt to fight off a sob that threatened to escape from his throat. He had thought that he and Zev were best mates but now he was standing in an empty apartment Zev had never invited him into, realizing that the man had intentionally left without a word. Not like Jack's flight to Galar had been under rapidly changing emergency circumstances with no opportunity to communicate but a planned and neatly executed disappearing act. He thought back on all of his interactions with the man, realizing that Zev had never really offered anything of himself, instead letting Jack orbit him in the periphery without investing much of himself.[break][break]

Except for that time he had mentioned his girlfriend. A fellow Ranger he actually knew.[break][break]

"What about Nenet? Think she knows what happened or did he ditch her too?" Jack asked Isaac, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice now.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Canon Connections[break]

BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

Short King height

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

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Dec 10, 2023 5:45:03 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]"Here and there." Zev Harcourt was always a private person. A part of Isaac believed he was over there more than most, if only due to his subordinate role. Another part of him realized attributing anything special to Zev's attentions was a mistake. Everyone who went to Zev's house was there more often than most. "We were close. Or, at least, I thought we were."[break][break]

Perhaps they were as close as anyone could be.[break][break]

No. There was another, someone far closer and far more important. Jack had gotten her name in one, and at her mention fear gripped Isaac's heart. "He wouldn't," he snapped, almost a little too quickly.[break][break]

Who was he to say what Zev would and wouldn't do? Hadn't this whole day been about breaking their expectation around that? Zev wouldn't abandon Flying Sword school. He wouldn't abandon the Howling. He wouldn't pack the sum total of his life in a box and leave his apartment behind. Yet each and every one of those things came to pass.[break][break]

The same happening to Neffatari Nzingha of all people left fear gripping at his heart. Why? Was it because she was too good for such a fate, and perhaps even too good for him? Or was it because the idea of being wrong about Zev that one last time was too much to bear? Time and time again, Zev had proven to Isaac that nothing was sacred unless it was His. As soon as it wasn't, or it wasn't needed, it was disposable.[break][break]

He genuinely seemed to love Nenet, but genuine and Zev were not words that went together.[break][break]

It should have been trivial to close this case. She worked in Mossdeep. Go there, see her. Despite that, his legs refused to move. Imagining the horrid fate a monster like Zev could unleash when he'd grown tired of playing house turned his blood to ice. Worse than that, however, was what it meant if Nenet was okay. If Zev had yet to move past her, and she tipped him off to Isaac's meddling . . .[break][break]

No. It was too risky. Fear and doubt, practical and selfish alike, forced Isaac to tuck the smoking gun back in its drawer.[break][break]

"Wish he at least left us something worth poking around at," Isaac admitted. If he could just sway the topic off from that idea, maybe he could forget the idea had ever come up. "This isn't even depressing. It's just . . . hollow."[break][break]

Wasn't that just a perfect fit for the man himself?

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — jack wainwright [break]
NOTES — notes go here

close tab

played by

skyline

jack

he/him

twenty-six

august 12

Hulbury

travel blogger

elite ranger

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 10, 2023 16:35:19 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

It seemed like Jack wasn't the only one feeling the sting of abandonment from Zev's disappearance. It was clear now that Isaac had been more than just an employee or a work friend, but a good friend who Zev had invited into his home. Even as Jack felt empathy for the other man, he felt jealousy too. How insane. What is wrong with me?[break][break]

At the mentioned of Neffatari Nzingha, Jack seemed to have touched a nerve judging by Isaac's snappish reply. Still, Jack couldn't let the idea go, even though he keept the thoughts to himself. It would be so easy to pick up the phone and call her, plan a trip to Mossdeep to check out whatever exhibit was at the Space Center or grab some tea. He still hadn't broken the news to her that Bastiodon had been killed in action during that fighting on Route 105. Nenet was a friend, or at least he thought she was, though this thing with Zev was making him question a lot of things now. Fighting off his insecure doubts, he resolved to check in on her. If she knew what happened with Zev it would provide some closure and if she didn't maybe she could join whatever this fucked up little support group was that he had going on standing here in Zev's empty apartment with Isaac.[break][break]

"I'm not sure where else to go from here, so I think that means I should head back home. I've got some Remembrance Day gifts to get rid of," Jack said, feeling as empty as the apartment they were now haunting. The thought of the next two days of the postal service returning the final two undeliverable gifts made him nauseous.[break][break]

Jack pulled his phone from his pocket. "Happy to exchange contacts if either of us finds anything else out, or you just want to grab a drink or anything...?" he finished somewhat lamely, the old insecurity he had thought long buried in his past suddenly resurrected by the implosion of his friendship with Zev.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Canon Connections[break]

BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

Short King height

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

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

POSTED ON Dec 10, 2023 19:05:16 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","isaac2"]

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]". . . I mean, hey. Why wait?"[break][break]

It was a heck of a way for two people to meet. A burned-out, bitter Holmes, and a Watson who asked an innocuous question only to be dragged into a hell of an answer. Now that the bandaid was ripped off and the pain ebbed away, it just felt kind of unfair.[break][break]

"Be a pretty shit way to end the day, y'know?" That was a touch of guilt in Isaac's smile as he, nonetheless, added in his contact info. "Me just swooping in out of nowhere, dropping a bunch of bad news on you, and fucking off."[break][break]

It was exactly what Zev had done. Isaac had to be better than that.[break][break]

"So, c'mon. How about we hit the city at least end this day on a better note? Sounds like we're both gonna have to find a new bar, anyway." Did he still remember where all the old Rocket fronts were? Surely he did. He'd already hit poor Jack with a little hint of his magic bullshit. The last thing this night needed was a drunken stand-off with Rocket operatives as a cherry on top.[break][break]

[attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG — jack wainwright [break]
NOTES — notes go here

close tab

played by

skyline

jack

he/him

twenty-six

august 12

Hulbury

travel blogger

elite ranger

6'1" height

Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass.

awards

644 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jack

POSTED ON Dec 24, 2023 18:11:22 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","jackpost"]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","text"]

Jack didn't feel like drinking. Jack didn't feel much of anything at this point, just drained and a little confused. Still, what were his other options, sulk in his apartment alone or take the gloomy cloud he had hanging over him and darken Aurelie's doorstep with it? The person he would have called for advice on something like this had seemingly evaporated from his life. He didn't evaporate, he left intentionally. Jack reminded himself to stop making excuses for Zev - he had abandoned their friendship, and Isaac's too. Cruelly and intentionally.[break][break]

Isaac was right, why wait. Plus drinking was his Wintertide tradition and t'was the season, as they say, or at least close enough. And for all of Isaac's bluster and strangeness, it was Jack could tell the other man was hurting too.[break][break]

Ho ho ho, he thought mirthlessly to himself.[break][break]

"Sure, sounds great," Jack said as he made an effort to quirk his mouth up into something that would pass for a smile. "Know any places? I mostly went to Howling when I came to Slateport but I'm fine with wandering until we find something."

[attr="class","ooc"]