[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie had been sleeping deeply and dreamlessly when Jack had fired off his series of tipsy texts to her a little before midnight. It'd been a long day of rushing to finish a commission whose deadline moved up at the last minute. She'd crashed hard afterward, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

So, at first, when she heard the faint hints of odd noise coming from outside her window, she made a face in her sleep and rolled over. But the noise persisted, pulling her out of her blissful slumber with a grumpy grumble. At last, the pounding on the side door and enthusiastic "Hellllooooo!" brought her awake with a sudden, unwelcome jolt.

"C'est quoi, ce bordel," she muttered, still only half-awake. Tugging off her sleep mask, she twitched aside the curtain next to her bed and peered outside.

The street outside was softly lit with a few streetlights glowing under a velvety black, star-studded sky. Two indistinct figures were moseying aimlessly by her side door. When one of them raised his voice to yell again, Aurelie's eyebrows rose in startled disbelief when she realized she knew it.

"What...the...hell?" she gasped, slipping out of bed and tossing on the fluffy bathrobe draped over a chair. "I thought he was in Slateport! Why is he here...and at this hour?"

For, though thick with alcohol and hoarse from singing and talking, it was unmistakably the voice of her long-time fling...no, her casual lover...no, her boyfriend, Jack. She couldn't believe he was showing up at her place like this, though, sounding and acting completely plastered and ridiculous. Not to mention waking her up and making her have to get out of bed past midnight like this.

And had he even brought a friend? What was he thinking?

Aurelie stomped down the stairs, gritting her teeth in annoyance as she prepared to give Jack and his drinking buddy a talking-to and then drag Jack inside. She'd at least had the presence of mind to grab her eyepatch and slip it on before heading downstairs, though it was currently askew and only partly covering her scarred right eye.

She yanked open the door with a sharp, abrupt jerk. Yes, it was Jack all right, hanging onto the arm of his companion and grinning with intoxicated cheer. Aurelie's brows drew together and her mouth firmed in an exasperated glare.

"Jack Wainwright, you idiot," she sighed, making a grab for his hand. "I can't believe you came here like this! I guess you can come in, so stop making a spectacle of yourself and singing loud enough to wake the dead.

"And I guess you..." She turned toward the person beside Jack. A sudden chill ran down the length of her spine as the light shone full on his face, as if she'd just swallowed an ice cube. "...can...ummm..."

Her voice petered away into a disbelieving whisper as the blood drained from her face. It couldn't be him, she thought frantically. It can't be, it surely isn't... "...Isaac?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

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[attr="class","textbox"]It was a blur of linked arms, merry song, and flashed abs as the two of them made their way to the mysterious Mrs. Wainwright's. "Not bad," Isaac said, an impressed grin on his face as he gave Jack a teasing elbow. "But hey, c'mon. I know there's someone you're gonna be way happier showing 'em off to than me!" As far as he was concerned, the rest of the day was going to pass much the same; content, unfocused, and with not a single dramatic surprise.[break][break]

All that changed when he saw just who came to the door.[break][break]

". . . Aurie?"[break][break]

There were a lot of things Isaac expected to see on the other side. An old friend- no, a cherished sister that he hadn't seen in ages - was not one of them. Passing glances on the battlefield here and there, sure. But when was the last time they'd truly spoken? That same battle on the Resurface Isle, where they effectively parted ways for good?[break][break]

The hug he gave her, spurred on by drunken courage, was as warm and protective as it was dearly overdue.[break][break]

"I missed you," he said, his tone as clear as the heart he wore on his sleeve. At the very least, it wasn't the "I miss you" of an ex-lover or a former fling. It was a far different type, more intimate and yet far less threatening. There was clearly history of a sort, but in the sense that made it clear Isaac was the younger of their present company. "But . . . I gotta wonder."[break][break]

"What're you doing at this guy's girlfriend's house?"

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie barely had time to metaphorically pick her jaw up off the floor, before Isaac had swept her into an enthusiastic, effusive bearhug. She hadn't expected it, but she probably should have. It was in his nature, after all, to forgive, to empathize, to remember, and to love.

In his arms, she froze, caught between competing emotions. One part of her wanted nothing more than to melt into his embrace, hug him back, and tell him how much she'd missed him and thought of him since their last meeting on the resurfaced island. Because she had. Oh, she really had.

But the colder, more rational, and more selfish part of Aurelie—the part that belonged to Rocket—knew she should push him away. She should glare at him, tell him off in no uncertain terms, and maybe throw a punch or two. In short, she should treat Isaac like an enemy—like how a Rocket defector should be treated.

It was the safe course, especially when Rocket was always watching. Although Aurelie rather doubted they'd be watching a random grunt living in a peaceful city at 2:00 AM. Right now, she found herself far more aware of Jack's eyes watching her: innocent, inebriated, unsure...yet still a Ranger. Definitely not someone she could openly mention Rocket in front of, even when he was three sheets to the wind.

Especially when he leaned in and hugged both of them. The redhead swallowed and shook her head in resignation. No, she wouldn't push Isaac or Jack away, so she did the next best thing.

"Then come inside, both of you," Aurelie sighed, shuffling backward and dragging both of them through the open door. "It's nice and warm in here, and we can talk in peace."

Reaching out, she firmly shut the door behind them while Jack and Isaac piled into the stairwell that led to her workshop downstairs and the apartment upstairs.

"I live here," she replied to Isaac, her lips curving into a wry smirk. "You should remember this place. There's no one else here but me. Well, and a few of my Pokemon, I guess."

On cue, her Flareon Ignace paused at the top of the stairs and let out a huge, luxurious yawn, its breath faintly tinged with traces of fiery golden-red flame.

Closing her eye briefly, as if to shutter herself against the world, Aurelie squeezed Isaac's hand. "I missed you too."

Then she turned to Jack, her tone turning acerbic while remaining affectionate and amused. "As for you... What are you doing here? And how much have you been drinking? For the matter, why have you been drinking so much? And how did you end up with Isaac?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]It was a nice, warm hug on a nice, cool day. Isaac smiled a little as he was comfortably sandwiched between his dearly missed sister and his new friend. However, it was clear not everyone was as comfortable as he was. Poor Jack was already complaining about the cold.[break][break]

"Oh, shit. I gotchu." Sometimes, inebriation made people more skilled rather than less skilled. This was because without one's inhibitions, it was easy to do things before your brain told you "whoa, slow down, buddy." In this case, Isaac was able to flawlessly whip his shirt off in a single sweeping motion of his arm just to offer it to Jack. "I don't get cold anymore, so it's all yours."[break][break]

Between that little gun show, and him forgetting where Aurelie lived, it appeared drunk Isaac was officially a himbo.[break][break]

Once he was in the stairwell, Isaac let out a sigh of relief. Yep. This was definitely familiar territory. "Oh yeah! You showed me how to make the thingies here," he oh so helpfully specified. "That was fun. You gotta make him a thingie next. He'll love it. But maybe not right now." He looked around, conspiratorially, then leaned in to whisper to Aurelie and Jack.[break][break]

"Don't tell anyone, but we might be a little drunk."[break][break]

His uproarious laughter melted into a soft, supportive hand squeeze. A million and one brain cells screamed out a million and one different answers to her agreement, but in his drunken haze all he did was smile. Perhaps it was for the best. Even the most innocuous of words could have lead to truths getting out that Jack simply wasn't ready for.[break][break]

"I brought him here!" Isaac said, smiling proudly. "Guy needed a change of pace. So I decided to take him to the best tiki bar I know. And since I can do this now-!" Wind up the stairs. Wind down the stairs. How he didn't trip and explode was another one of those little Isaac miracles. "I was all, woosh, you're in Lilycove now. Pretty cool, eh sis?"[break][break]

Somehow, in all those words, he managed to not answer a single one of Aurelie's questions. Incredible.

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie stared, dumbstruck, as Isaac whipped off his shirt, offered it to Jack, and then used his Suicune-given powers to whoosh up and down the stairs, while Jack put on the shirt and made weird, wheezing noises with his mouth. None of it made sense, and yet honestly, it all made far too much sense.

Of course, the two of them would somehow find each other. Of course, they'd become friends and drinking buddies. And of course, they'd all end up together on her doorstep.

"Blessed Arceus," she finally muttered when she found her voice again. "I'm not awake enough for this."

Wearily, the redhead rubbed a hand across her forehead. "I didn't even know you could get drunk anymore, Isaac. You two ought to go into comedy together, you know. You'd be a huge hit in college frat houses everywh..."

She cut herself off as Jack abruptly charged up the stairs. What on earth is he looking for? Aurelie wondered in alarm. Shooting Isaac a look of profound disappointment, she hurried upstairs after Jack as a worrying flurry of banging noises began emanating from the depths of her apartment.

"Jack, please stop," she pleaded as he opened and slammed closed one door after another. "Do you need water? Coffee? Some fruit, maybe? I have some leftovers in the fridge, if you're hungry..."

Aurelie's brow creased as she suddenly remembered the texts from Jack that she'd half-skimmed while rushing downstairs earlier. "Wait a minute. Jack Bartholomew Wainwright, didn't you say you were bringing snacks? Hmmmm?"

Privately, she wasn't actually sure if she had his middle name right. He'd told her once, but at two in the morning, she couldn't clearly remember what it was. Still, she narrowed her eye sternly and pushed past Jack into the kitchen, only looking up when she caught a glimpse of Isaac stumbling through the door out of the corner of her eye.

"Here, I'll get you both some water," the redhead grumbled, taking out two tall glasses and filling them both to the brim with cold, filtered water. "That way, you can clear your heads and not wake up with pounding headaches tomorrow morning.

"Now, will one of you please fill me in on why both of you decided to drink yourselves silly at a tiki bar today?" For all their excited blabber, Aurelie still wasn't sure they'd explained why. Had some tragic Ranger incident happened? Had someone bullied them both and made them cry? Though I can't imagine anyone would be fool enough to do that to the avatar of Suicune, she thought wryly.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

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[attr="class","textbox"]"Neither'd I!" Isaac flashed a big, cheeky grin, barely able to contain his own snickering. "But glad I could find out here, y'know? Not like anything bad can happen when I'm with people I trus-"[break][break]

For a moment, just a moment, his ever-present grin faded. His big, earnest eyes were struck by terror, a silent plea shining within them. For all his love, for all his trust, he knew exactly who he was. He remembered parker jones's warnings, fear for his own life matched by that he felt for the sister he loved's safety.[break][break]

Not even the comforting numb of drunkenness could change what fate may be in store for him.[break][break]

Aurelie's words snapped him out of it. He blinked rapidly, his normal expression quickly melting back onto his face. "Huh. I thought you had it." he said to Jack, before looking under Aurelie's welcome mat as if it could be hidden there. "Weird. If you don't got it, and I don't got it, then-."[break][break]

A cold breeze blew past Isaac, and a familiar Pressure settled over him. Isaac blinked rapidly from shock, only for him to break out into laughter. "No way," he said. Nonetheless, he turned on his heel to answer the door. "No way. This guy can't be serious."[break][break]

Serious, indeed. On the other side of the door stood Suicune themselves. They shot their chosen a deadpan look, mane idly drifting in the breeze. Then, with barely a word, they floated a takeaway box towards Isaac with Extrasensory power. "Hey, thanks, buddy!" he chirped, earning only a fond yet weary sigh in response.[break][break]

The northern wind was unpredictable as they were capricious. Isaac could barely even find them half the time, and yet here they were showing up with the forgotten snacks. Had they been tailing Isaac the whole time? Or did they simply choose to intervene, the right strange place at the right strange time?[break][break]

Perhaps they were simply curious to see what such strange creatures did with their gift of freedom.

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Oblivious to Jack's melancholy musings about missing leftovers, the cruelty of abandonment, and the elusive nature of true happiness, Aurelie glanced down the stairs when she heard a commotion at the door, followed by a sudden sensation of tightness in her head. Her eye widened in shock. Was that... No, it couldn't be...

Was that Suicune outside her door? With a takeout bag in their mouth?

She'd often wondered if she'd ever encounter Suicune in person, now that they'd allied with Isaac. She'd thought it would happen on a battlefield or perhaps another attempt to persuade her to accept League amnesty. But this? This, she hadn't seen coming.

Completely at a loss for words, Aurelie simply gaped, while Jack breezed past happily past her in jubilant acceptance of his food. When he tossed a chicken wing her way, she only managed to catch it because the wing flew right into her face. As it bounced off her cheek, she fumbled to grab it with both hands.

Still staring at Suicune, the redhead instinctively brought the chicken to her mouth and started nibbling. "Huh. This is really good!" she commented. "Is this from that tiki bar by the beach?"

Then, Aurelie rapidly shook her head, as if casting off cobwebs. "No! No more nonsense! You two..." She pointed sharply at Isaac and Jack.

"Into the apartment. On the couch. Now." She put her hands on her hips and glared as ferociously as only a one-eyed, cranky woman can. "I am getting you both water and maybe making you both coffee too. You two are going to get your stories straight, drink it, and then...talk."

She hesitated as she glanced back toward Suicune. In a softer tone, she said, "And you... Uh, well, thank you for coming. And bringing the food. It's an honor to meet you. If you...want to come up too..." She sucked in a thoughtful breath, trying to envision the Legendary Pokemon fitting inside her living room. "Well, you're welcome to, if you want."

Perhaps it wasn't the most elegant or gracious way to address a Legendary, but it was the best Aurelie could do after a rudely interrupted slumber. Beckoning for both men to follow her, she marched up the stairs, pointed peremptorily at the couch in the living room, and bustled into the kitchen again.

Working quickly, she began heating up a kettle of water and putting coarse-ground coffee into her Kalosian press. While the water heated, Aurelie headed back into the living room with the glasses of water she'd already poured out earlier. Unceremoniously, she shoved one glass each into Jack and Isaac's hands.

"Drink. And then tell me everything, from the beginning. How did you two even meet up? Why are you both here, instead of in Slateport or..." She eyed Isaac for a moment. "Ever Grande City or whatever. Why did you both get so drunk? And why is Suicune here playing at being a PokeDash delivery driver?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","topimage"]

[attr="class","textbox"]"You bet it is!" Isaac said. "Second best bar I know. First best nowadays, I guess. But we're not supposed to be sad anymore, so we're not gonna talk about that." Emotional awareness was Isaac's strong suit, even when drunk. Subtlety? That was a lot harder in his current state.[break][break]

If the room fell into shock at Suicune's presence, Aurelie's offer was the perfect uno reverse card. The look of stunned confusion on their face was as if they'd eaten an entire lemon. Nevertheless, Isaac shot them an ear to ear beam in return. "S'okay, buddy. These're good people," he said, less like he was talking to his patron and more like he was reassuring a small animal.[break][break]

Humans truly were strange creatures. With a weary sigh, and a bemused twinkle in their eye, Suicune blew into the threshold.[break][break]

It was perhaps a good thing, too. In Isaac and Jack's current state, the stairs that Aurelie beckoned them towards were public enemy #1. Suicune made that bitter pill far easier to swallow. As their body gave way to the northern wind, Isaac and Jack were spirited away with barely any issue. Compared to Isaac's tempestuous jetstream, Suicune's help was far easier to take. It was as if they were floating on a cloud.[break][break]

They even did Aurelie the favor of dropping the doofy duo on their couch. Jack would get the luxury of a comfortable spot in an upright position, while Isaac was left dangling haphazardly upside down off of one of the couch arms. It didn't stop him from taking the glass of water from Aurelie, the water bending and twisting to avoid spilling as he sipped the gravity-defying drink.[break][break]

"Hey now, just 'cause I'm in the League-" Shit. "-of Legends tournament coming up-" Nice save. "-doesn't mean I'm gonna spending all my time in Ever Grande! Silly Aurie."[break][break]

"Anyway, we were in Slateport, and it was kind of a real bummer, right? So I was all, what cheers people up? That's it! Really good food and drinks! So we had 'em until we stopped being all sad and stuff." Judging by the condition he and Jack were in . . . "It took a while. But we're good!"[break][break]

"As for Suicune? Beats me! They just kinda show up when they feel like it." It was the damndest thing. Isaac could barely find Suicune half the time, and now they were here in maybe the goofiest, lowest-stake moment of Isaac's life. He looked around conspiratorially, then leaned forward with a cupped hand to try and whisper to Aurelie. "I think they knew if we didn't have the food, you'd break my butt."[break][break]

No comment from the big guy, of course.

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie had to hold back a laugh at Isaac's deft course correction, amused and impressed that he could think quickly enough to append "of Legends tournament" after "League" while still tipsy and trying to herd a bemused Suicune around. She'd been listening for that telltale little pause of frantic thinking, but she doubted the merrily inebriated Jack would question Isaac's words at all.

It was mean of me to bring up Ever Grande like that at all, she reflected ruefully, a pained smile tugging reluctantly at her lips. And it's so...typical of him to not think worse of me for it and to worry about giving me away as Rocket. He's still looking out for me. For all of us.

Even though it was heartwarming, it made her sadder too. Isaac and Jack and the League all deserved each other. All three were better and more honorable than Aurelie was. What kind of heartless monster would wish she could part the former two from the latter and bring them both over to Rocket?

Me. Which just proves my point.

Thankfully, Jack saved her from having to respond by spilling water all over the table even though he put the glass carefully and correctly on top and then flopping all over the couch like a lean, lanky beached Wailord. Aurelie sighed and marched over, clicking her tongue reprovingly.

"At this point, I think I'm going to have to invent more middle names to call you by," she huffed, sounding more amused than angry. Bending over him, she grabbed both his hands and hauled him firmly to his feet with a grunt of effort. Belying the sharpness of her gestures, she tenderly pressed a kiss to his shoulder while pulling him upright.

"No feet on my couch," she told him sternly, struggling to capture his meandering, sleepy eyes with her one. "Besides, the couch is for Isaac to sleep on, not you. And I can tell you were just about to pass out on it too."

The redhead started to drag Jack away, only to gasp and jerk back when she nearly stepped on one of Suicune's paws. "Oh, Arceus! Uh, excuse me." Then, she frowned and bit her lip, glancing toward Isaac.

"Well, I guess I don't know if you're planning to stay over or not," Aurelie ventured, sounding far more hesitant now. "Or if you can just...whoosh off now into the night. You're always welcome here, Isaac. But..."

I don't know if you prefer the company of your new friends and like them better than your old ones. I don't know if you'd rather stay with them than with me.

Unexpectedly—though perhaps understandably—she gave a yawn. Clearing her throat, Aurelie stepped cautiously around the Legendary Pokemon and ushered Jack through the door to her bedroom. "Either way, into the bed with you! Though if you threaten to throw up, I'm kicking you to the floor. But I'll still make that breakfast you usually like when you're hungover.

"And the same goes for you too," she added offhandedly, throwing a glance back over her shoulder at Isaac. "Though I doubt you'll be as badly off as this goof."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT