“No thanks, I’m good.”

“But…” June smirked, “used car salesmen? Come in all shapes and sizes and creeds, just like me and your other friends. Probably like your dragon friends, too. All of them have their little quirks or sob stories they use on you, and they are just. Fascinating.”

“How they can all look and act so different, yet all do the exact same thing.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t know that,” she set the cup down gently, “because it sounds like you never had to worry about a car. How bad it can be to a single parent to waste money on a bucket of bolts and rust. And after enough lemons and bad deals, you’d start to learn what the tells are– have to, really. And they're always the same: might spray paint over rust, turn the odometer backward, or get it running just well enough that it sounds fine during a test drive yet breaks down after twenty miles.”

“But at the end of the day, they are selling you a spray-painted bucket of shit and give even less about who you are. That’s the line that connects you," she pointed straight at Freya, "with the rest of ‘em.”

“And the thing that makes me different from the friends I oh so remind you of,” June leaned forward, as close as she could get without rocking the table, and shoved a thumb into her own chest “is that I can smell the shit you’ve painted gold.”

“And you were right– I really do hate the bullshit. I hated it three years ago. I hated it eight months ago. And I’m really fucking hating it right now.”

---

freya morningstar

Rain wasn’t on the forecast. Then how…

Could Freya control the weather? Had June overstepped her limits again, toe a line that didn’t exist, cause she was firmly over it? The doubts took over for a moment, then quickly disappeared.

If Freya could control the weather, and had some ace in her sleeve, then she was stupid to bring it out now. After June had thoroughly torn the councilwoman a new one, and before they even came to this café. That would’ve been a far better way to relate with her.

Power beyond understanding, and the sudden ‘responsibility’ it forced down their throats.

“Then sell me something that isn’t the same bullshit,” June backed down and returned to her seat. The sudden snake appearance shook her, but not enough to take Freya’s terrible offer and beg for forgiveness.

“You said you knew what I want earlier? Can cater an offer to my desires? Now’d be a pretty good time to spill, or I’m afraid this first date won’t even get you to first base,” she took enough mouthful of sandwich, now soaked in the discarded egg yolk. She was right: the egg ruined everything.

---

freya morningstar

… Anything? Not anything– never could be. A pittance, if anything. But damn if the offer wasn’t tempting. June gave Freya a careful stare as she looked expectantly at her, furious yet willing to negotiate. After all, the ball was in her court and the proper warnings had been decreed.

Go to Rocket, and she might as well forfeit the rest of her days. What other interested parties existed in this Arceus-forsaken region?

The promise was enticing, dangerously slow. For the low low price of her freedom, she could be free from her current problems. No debt, no obligations. Hell, she could probably even get her Dad’s old shop back. Exactly what she had wanted three years ago, and desperately desired to this day.

And the idea even came to her lips, as they opened to relay the offer. But the words never left, never materialized into reality.

‘Sorry kid, but we couldn’t find a single lead on whoever did this. They were smart, left no trace. It’d be like finding a needle in a haystack.’

‘We ain’t P.I’s or ghost hunters. You know how much shit we gotta deal with? Tough luck kid– hire someone who can give a fuck.’

Any hint of a soft, willing expression faded beneath the sudden glare. June shut the metaphorical door in her face for reasons well beyond the councilwoman's control or even her responsibility. Any chance of another boon went out the window as she leaned back in the chair and considered her next words.

“... Y’know, I wanted to say something really witty, or nasty, but… you don’t deserve it,” she spat out. “I wanted answers two-and-a-half years ago. I wanted to not fall through the cracks. I wanted help, and to be treated like a person rather than an asset.”

“But next time? Don't have a used car salesman try to convince me. I gave you my answer thirty minutes ago: I’m not interested. Just leave me out of your bullshit and let me live my life.”

---

freya morningstar

June eyed the business card, and raised an eyebrow to Freya. Even as she finally folded underneath the invisible pressure, it felt awful. Like a guillotine that hung high above. Ready to strike the moment she let her guard down.

“Thanks, I guess,” it disappeared into her pocket and sat there as a stone. The odds of it ever seeing the light of day were not zero, but so were the odds of her utilizing the rope that dangled down.

It’d be a cold day in hell before she leaned on the League. After all they’ve done– or haven’t.

But… free food was free food. Innocent enough. And Freya wasn’t the biggest bullshitter she’d witnessed. It’s why she didn’t stand up and walk right out at the offer for dessert. Instead, she sighed.

“Better be worth it.”

---

freya morningstar